
SOME PROBLEMS IN CYTY 
SCHOOL ADMINISTRAT! 

GEORGE D. CTRAYER 






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I 'HT^HE School Efficiency Series comprises thirteen | 

I Jl volumes by as many educational experts on Ele- | 

I mentary School and Kindergarten, High School, and | 

I Vocational Instruction, Courses of Study, Organization, | 

I Management and Supervision. The Series consists of | 

I monographs based on the report of Professor Hanus | 

I and his associates on the schools of New York City, j 

I but the controlling ideas are applicable as well in one | 

I public school system as in another. | 

I Among the authors contributing to these volumes are | 

I included Professor Paul H. Hanus, Professor of Edu- | 

1 cation, Harvard University, who is also general editor | 

I of the whole series; Dr. Frank P. Bachman, General | 

I Education Board; Dr. Edward C. Elliott, Director of | 

I the School of Education, University of Wisconsin ; Dr. | 

I Herman Schneider, Dean of the College of Engineering, | 

I University of Cincinnati; Dr. Frank W. Ballou, Di- | 

I rector of Promotion and Educational Measurement, | 

I Boston Public Schools; Dr. Calvin O. Davis, Assistant | 

j Professor of Education, University of Michigan; Dr. | 

I Frank V. Thompson, Assistant Superintendent of | 

I Schools, Boston; Dr. Henry H. Goddard, Director | 

I Department of Psychological Research, New Jersey | 

I Training School for Feeble-Minded Boys and Girls; | 

I Mr. Stuart A. Courtis, Supervisor of Educational Re- | 

j search in the PubHc Schools, Detroit; Dr. Frank M. | 

I McMurry, Professor of Elementary Education, Teach- | 

I ers College, Columbia University; Dr. Ernest C. Moore, | 

I Professor of Education, Harvard University; Dr. | 

I Ellwood P. Cubberley, Professor of Education, Leland | 

I Stanford Junior University ; and Dr. George D . Strayer, | 

I Professor of Educational Administration, Teachers | 

= College, Columbia University. i 



SCHOOL EFFICIENCY SERIES 



Some Problems in 
City School Administration 



SCHOOL EFFICIENCY SERIES 
Edited by Paul H. Hanus 



Some Problems in City 
School Administration 

By GEORGE D. STRAYER 

PROFESSOR OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION, TEACHERS 
COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 

Assisted by 

Frank P, Bachman, Ellwood P. Cubberley 

William T. Bawden, and 

Frank J. Kelly 




YONKERS-ON-HUDSON, NEW YORK 

WORLD BOOK COMPANY 
1916 



Copyright, igi6, by World Book Company 
All rights reserved 

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EDITOR'S PREFACE 

'X'HE School Efficiency Series was intended originally to 
•*■ include only the volumes containing the report of my 
associates and myself on the New York City School In- 
quiry. Since that inquiry (survey) was undertaken a 
number of school surveys of smaller cities have been made. 
Most of the reports of these surveys seem to me to have 
more than a temporary value; and most of them have not 
been published as yet, in book form. I accordingly sug- 
gested to the World Book Company that the School Effi- 
ciency Series be extended to include at least some of these 
reports. This suggestion found favor with the World 
Book Company, and the report on the Portland (Oregon) 
survey was published as a volume of this series about a 
year ago. 

When the report on the Butte survey appeared, I sug- 
gested to Dr. Strayer that if agreeable to him and his 
associates I would like to publish it as a volume of the 
School Efficiency Series because, like the New York and 
Portland reports, it embodies a record of facts concerning 
a particular school system which it is impossible otherwise 
to obtain. Also like those other reports, it embodies meth- 
ods of studying schools and school systems and discusses 
principles of procedure in school activities that are uni- 
versally applicable — just such concrete facts, methods, and 
principles as constitute the most valuable material we can 
obtain for critical analysis and evaluation by all students 
of education and particularly by superintendents of schools 
and other school officers. Dr. Strayer assented to my 
suggestion, and I now take pleasure in presenting his report 
on the Butte survey as the latest volume of the present 
series. 

vii 



viii Editor's Preface 

Since I had no part in the Butte School Survey nor 
in the preparation of the report on that survey, I cannot 
claim any responsibility for either; but I am glad to ex- 
press my hearty concurrence with most of the conclusions 
and recommendations of the present volume. Neverthe- 
less, on one significant point it seems to be important 
that I should state my own views, even if, in doing so, I 
must express fundamental disagreement with Dr. Strayer 
and some of his associates. 

On page 156 reference is made to the use of the Hillegas 
Scale for measuring compositions written by elementary 
school children; and the statement is made that this scale 
consists of ten compositions — seven of which were selected 
from a large number of compositions written by young 
people and three of which were artificially constructed by 
adults to secure compositions of zero or nearly zero value. 
It should be noted that of the seven compositions in the 
Hillegas Scale actually written by young people, five were 
written by high-school children and two were written by 
college freshmen. Further, the Hillegas Scale is composed 
of compositions of different kinds. One of the funda- 
mental requirements of scientific measurement is that the 
thing to be measured should be measured by a portion of 
the same kind of thing; and from what has been said it is 
clear that the Hillegas Scale does not fulfill this condition. 

Nevertheless, Dr. Strayer and others have used the 
scale to advantage. The point I wish to make in regard 
to this scale is that no one ought to use it without having 
in mind its defects and limitations. The Hillegas Scale, 
as a pioneer, has served a useful purpose; but for the 
reason given above it is clear that we need a better scale. 

Paul H. Hanus. 
Harvard University. 



CONTENTS 

Page 
Editor's Preface vii 



Introduction 3 

I. THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEM 
Chapter 

I. The Administration OF THE Schools .... 11 

(1) The Legal Basis for the Schools: State Control of 
Schools — School Districts of the First Class — Large Powers 
of the State — Limitations of State Control for City School 
Systems 

(2) The Board and Its Problems: Executive Officers of the 
Board — The Proper Official Relation between the Board and 
the Superintendent — The Board's Proper Function — Funda- 
mental Administrative Principles 

II. The Teaching Corps 21 

(1) Selection and Training of Teachers: The Preparation for 
Teaching of the Present Corps — Conclusions from the Data 
as to Preparation — Recommendations for Further Profes- 
sional Training of the Teachers and Principals 

(2) The Salaries of Teachers: Recommendations as to 
Salaries — A Probationary Period for Inexperienced Teachers 

— Salaries of Special Teachers — Salaries of Principals — 
Salaries of High-School Teachers — Essential Features of 
the Salary Plan Proposed 

III. School Buildings and Equipment 31 

School Sites — Types of Buildings Found — Typical Class- 
rooms Found — A Proper Type of Classroom — A New 
Type of Building Needed — The Advisability of Erecting 
Larger School Buildings — Intermediate-School and High- 
School Buildings — Janitor Service 

IV. Census, Records, and Reports 48 

The Present School Census — Suggestions for Improving 
and Amending the School Census — Information to Collect 

— Time to Take the Census — Card Census File — Keeping 
the Census File Up to Date — Educational Use of the Census 
File — Present Effectiveness of Attendance Service 
School Records Needed — The Teacher's Register or Blotter 

— Report of Principal to Attendance Officers — Report of 
Principal to Superintendent — Report of Attendance Officers 
to Superintendent 

Need for More Effective Cooperation in Attendance Work 

— Advantage of Simplifying Present School Records — 
Summary 

ix 



X Contents 

Chapter Page 

V. Finance and Accounts 60 

(1) Costs of the School System: Difficulties Encountered 
in Comparing Costs — Comparative Per Capita Costs 

(2) Costs as Shown by the Present System of Accounting 
— Deficiencies of the Financial Records 



II. THE INSTRUCTIONAL PROBLEM 
VI. The Classification and Progress of Pupils . 67 

Character of the Population of Butte — School Population 
of District No. 1 — The Holding Power of the Butte Public 
Schools — The Progress of Children in School — Amount of 
Over-Age — Degree of Over-Age — Significance of Over-Age 

— Cause of Over-Age — Special Classes for Backward Chil- 
dren — Elementary Summer Schools — Rate of Promotion 
and Non-Promotion — Reducing Non-Promotion — Failures 
by Studies — Reducing the Number of Failures — Size of 
Class in Elementary Schools — Size of Sections in the High 
School — Failures by Studies in the High School — Summary 

yil. The Quality of Instruction loi 

(1) Standards for Judging the Quality of Instruction and 
Classroom Procedure: The Three Types of Lessons — The 
Lesson for Habit Formation — Lessons Involving Thinking 

— Lessons for Appreciation — Teaching Children to Study 

— Social Phases of School Work — Discipline and Manage- 
ment 

(2) The Quality of the Teaching Done in the Butte Schools: 
Greater Efficiency Possible — Good Work Seen — Drill Work 

— Effect of the Examination System — More Teaching for 
Appreciation Needed — Sunnnary 

VIII. The Courses of Study . 119 

New Conceptions of Education — Failure of the Courses of 
Study to Meet the New Demands in Education 
Fundamental Needs: 

(1) Elementary-School Courses of Study: Lack of Kinder- 
gartens — The First School Grade — Work in Arithmetic 

— Language Work — Reading and Literature — Home 
Reading Books — History and Civil Government — Geog- 
raphy — Nature Study and Science Instruction — Spelling 

— Writing — Music — ■ Drawing — Play and Physical Train- 
ing 

(2) Manual and Household Instruction in the Elementary 
Schools: Time Allotment — Extension of the Handwork 

— New Lines of Work — 'Additional Centers and Equip- 
ment — The Thought Side of Manual Training — Super- 
vision Needed — Household Arts for Girls — Household 
Art Centers 

(3) Intermediate Schools: Possible Reorganizations Rec- 
ommended — Educational Advantages of the Plan Recom- 
mended — How the Intermediate School Meets the Special 
Needs of the Upper Grades — Possible Courses of Study 
for Intermediate Schools — Difficulties in Inaugurating the 
Plan 

(4) The High School 



Contents xi 

Chapter Page 

IX. The Achievements of Pupils 150 

(1) Spelling: The Spelling Tests — The Word Lists Used 

— Scoring of Papers — The Results 

(2) Composition: The Composition Test — Scoring the 
Papers — Typical Compositions Written by Butte Children 

— Evaluation of the Composition Work 

(3) Penmanship: The Penmanship Tests — Scoring the 
Papers — The Results 

(4) Arithmetic: The Arithmetic Tests — Scoring the Papers 

— The Results 

(5) Summary 

X. The Supervision of Instruction 185 

Demonstrations of Methods of Teaching — Cooperation of 
Teachers in Developing School Policies — Measurement of 
the Achievements of Pupils — Standard Tests of Instruction 

— Teacher and Supervisor 

XI. Adaptation of the Schools to Community 

Needs 193 

(1) The New Types of Instruction: Kindergartens — Special 
Classes for Special Groups — Night Schools — Classes for 
Those Who Do Not Speak English 

(2) Care for the Physical Welfare of the Children: Facilities 
for Play — Physical Condition of the Children — • Probable 
Physical Conditions — Types of Health Supervision — The 
School Nurse — The Teacher and Health Supervision — 
Instruction in Hygiene and Play Supervision 

XII. Summary, Conclusions, and Recommenda- 
tions 204 

The Administration of Schools — Selection, Training, Tenure, 
and Salaries of Teachers — School Buildings and Equipment 

— Census, Records, and Reports — Costs and Financial 
Records — The Classification and Progress of Pupils — The 
Quality of Instruction — Courses of Study — The Achieve- 
ments of Pupils — The Supervision of Instruction — The 
Adaptation of Schools to Community Needs 



APPENDICES 

A. The Initiation and Authorization of the 

Survey 217 

B. Blank Forms Used in Collecting Data .... 218 
INDEX 227 



Some Problems in City School 
Administration 



SOME PROBLEMS IN CITY SCHOOL 
ADMINISTRATION 

INTRODUCTION 

npHE survey of the Butte public school system was under- 
■*" taken upon the invitation of the Board of School 
Trustees and the Superintendent of Schools. In extend- 
ing their invitation to the director of the Survey, the Board 
agreed that he should choose his associates from among 
those w^hom he considered best qualified for the v^ork in 
hand, and assured him that the report would be published 
as written, without amendment or editorial change. The 
time allowed for the work was four weeks, and it was 
agreed that the cost to the Board of School Trustees for 
the salaries and expenses of the Survey commission should 
not exceed four thousand dollars. 

At their first conference concerning the work to be done, 
the members of the commission agreed that it was the pur- 
pose of the Survey to acquaint the Board of School Trustees 
and the citizens of Butte with the conditions as they exist 
in the public school system, with respect to the school plant 
and its equipment, the methods of administration and super- 
vision of the schools, the instruction and courses of study, 
the training, tenure, and present efficiency of the teaching 
corps, and the classification, progress, and achievements of 
children in the school system, together with such recom- 
mendations as might seem to them to be justified in the 
light of the facts which they might be able to collect, or 
observations which they might make. The members of the 
commission agreed that they would seek to place clearly 
before those who might read their report the achievements 

3 



4 Problems in City School Administration 

of the school system, or, in other words, its present strength, 
the needs of the school system as determined by whatever 
inadequacy might be found to exist, and the policies which, 
in their judgment, should furnish a program for future 
development. 

In the actual conduct of the Survey, emphasis has been 
placed throughout upon the possible service which should 
be rendered by the school system to all members of the 
community. Since the school system, as at present or- 
ganized, deals almost exclusively with the education of 
children between the ages of six and twenty years of age, 
the greater part of this report will be found to be devoted 
to a consideration of the education now offered to these 
children, together with such recommendations as seem to 
the members of the commission to promise improvement 
in the conditions under which this education is offered 
or in the results which may be secured. The report has 
not neglected, however, to consider the problem of the 
education of children under six years of age, and the 
possible wider use of the school plant for the education 
of those who are beyond compulsory school age and not 
now in attendance in the school system. 

The general plan for the work of the Survey com- 
mission had been thoroughly discussed and outlined by 
the time its members reached Butte. As soon as possible 
after reaching the city, conferences were held with the 
Superintendent of Schools, with the Board of School 
Trustees, and all of the teachers of the school system. 
The members of the commission profited largely from these 
meetings. They have felt throughout their work that their 
understanding of the local school situation depended in 
large measure upon the free and frank discussion which 
they were able to enjoy with those interested in the wel- 
fare of the school system. In the conference with teach- 
ers, the position of the Survey commission with respect to 
individual members of the teaching corps was made clear. 
Some of the teachers had felt before that meeting that 



Introduction 5 

the Survey was intended to report upon the quahficatlons 
of individual teachers, in order that the Board of School 
Trustees might be informed, and might, upon recommenda- 
tion of the commission, either rehire or dismiss individual 
teachers from the school system. In this report recom- 
mendations are made with respect to the fjurther training 
of teachers, and the qualifications for those who may later 
enter the school system, but the commission have been care- 
ful not to express any opinion concerning any individual 
teacher or other employee of the Board of School Trustees. 
This position seems to them to be fundamental in all sur- 
vey work done by specialists called in from outside the 
regular administrative or supervisory staff. 

The commission endeavored from the first to make it 
clear that they would be willing to discuss the needs of 
the school system with any representative body in the city 
who might care to invite them to meet for a discussion 
of these problems. During the course of the Survey they 
accepted invitations to attend meetings of the Silver Bow 
Trades and Labor Council, of the supervisors and principals 
of the public school system, of the teachers' union, of the 
city parents-teachers' association, of the Woman's Club, 
and of the Chamber of Commerce. Upon the suggestion 
of some of the teachers who were interested in the tests 
given to children, a meeting of the whole teaching corps 
was held in order to acquaint teachers with the nature of 
the tests given and to enable them to understand the 
methods used in scoring results. Another meeting of the 
teaching corps by grade groups was held for the discussion 
of problems peculiar to the different groups of teachers. 

As has already been suggested, the purpose of the Sur- 
vey had to do mainly with suggesting possibilities for im- 
proving the opportunities of the children in the public 
schools. To accomplish this end, all the members of the 
commission spent the first week during which they were 
at work in Butte upon the Survey, in visiting the class- 
rooms. All the schools in Butte, except the rural schools, 



6 Problems in City School Administration 

were visited, and every teacher's work was observed for 
a whole recitation or for such part of a recitation as was 
necessary to make clear to the observer the method of 
instruction employed by the teacher and the results she 
was securing from the pupils. In connection with these 
visits short conferences were held with teachers, and longer 
conferences, lasting from one to three hours, were held 
with the principal of each school. During the whole time 
devoted to the Survey, each member of the commission 
visited at least seven schools, while one member of the 
commission visited twelve. 

After the careful observation of the quality of teach- 
ing had been completed, a systematic attempt was made 
to discover the quality of work done by pupils by giving 
to as many children as possible tests which had been used 
in other school systems. Specimens of handwriting were 
collected from all the children. Tests in spelling, arith- 
metic, and English composition were given in at least ten 
schools and in as many grades as time permitted. 

Such data as were available concerning the work of the 
school system, in the form of courses of study, textbooks 
used, rules and regulations, and records to be found in the 
offices of the Superintendent of Schools and the School 
Clerk, were carefully studied. The courses of study were 
made the subject of several conferences by all the mem- 
bers of the commission. The forms in the Superintendent's 
office, upon which were recorded the qualifications of teach- 
ers and their efficiency as reported by the principals of 
schools, were carefully read. 

In order to supplement data available in the Superinten- 
dent's office, and in order to have a basis in fact for the 
judgments which the members of the commission felt called 
upon to render, special blanks were prepared and data 
were secured with reference to the training, experience, 
tenure, and salaries of teachers, the number of children 
per teacher in the school system, the ages of children in 
each grade of each school, the number of days of attend- 



Introduction 7 

ance for all of the children in two schools, the rate of 
promotion and non-promotion, together with the subjects 
in which pupils failed, by grades. 

As a result of a month's work, along the lines indicated 
above, the Survey commission herewith present to the 
Board of School Trustees their report on conditions and 
needs, together with a constructive program for the future 
development of the school system of Butte. They can- 
not, of course, hope that all their recommendations will be 
at once put into effect. Some of the recommendations 
clearly look to the future. It is, however, entirely pos- 
sible for the Board of Trustees, with the support of the 
people of this school district, to carry all the recommenda- 
tions into effect within the next four or five years. Should 
this be done, the commission feel that a very great improve- 
ment in the school system of Butte would result, — an 
improvement which would do much to advance the best 
interests of the citizenship of the city. 

In presenting this report to the Board of School Trus- 
tees and to the citizens of Butte, the members of the com- 
mission wish to express their appreciation of the uniform 
courtesy and kindness which has been extended to them by 
the members of the Board of School Trustees, the Super- 
intendent of Schools, the supervisory corps, and the teach- 
ing staff, and by those citizens of Butte with whom it has 
been their good fortune to come in contact. 



PART I 
The Administrative Problem 



CHAPTER I 

THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE SCHOOLS 

(i) The Legal Basis for the Schools 

npHE schools of Butte are organized in pursuarrce of the 
■■■ constitution of Montana (Art. XI, Sec. i), which re- 
quires that the legislative assembly shall "establish and 
maintain a general, uniform, and thorough system of pub- 
lic, free common schools," by means of which a free school 
shall be organized and maintained in each school district 
in the state. 

STATE CONTROL OF SCHOOLS 

In pursuance of this mandate of the constitution of the 
state, the legislature has enacted a detailed School Code, 
larger and longer than this report of the Survey commis- 
sion, and in which regulations for the organization of 
school districts, the election of school officers, the main- 
tenance of schools, the certification and appointment of 
teachers, the selection of textbooks, the attendance of chil- 
dren, the erection of school buildings, and many other mat- 
ters relating to the administration and supervision of 
schools, are fully set forth. Instead of leaving the main- 
tenance of schools to community option, their maintenance 
has been required; instead of leaving the levying of taxes 
to the whims of town or city councils, the Boards of School 
Trustees have been given independent power to levy a school 
tax ; instead of leaving attendance optional with communi- 
ties, the law requires all children between 8 and 14 to attend 
school every day the public schools are in session, regulates 
the labor of children, and requires districts of the first 
class to appoint truant officers, with police powers, to en- 
force the law; instead of leaving the length of term and the 

11 



12 Problems in City School Administration 

kind of teacher employed to communities to determine, the 
state has required a nine-months term in all first- and sec- 
ond-class districts, and forbidden the payment of school 
money to any teacher not possessed of a teacher's certificate, 
as required by law ; and, in many other matters, what com- 
munities must do is definitely and specifically laid down 
in the school code of the state. 

The courts, too, have uniformly decided that school 
districts are separate and distinct corporations from mu- 
nicipal corporations with which they may be contiguous or 
of which they may form a part. Municipal corporations 
exist for the purposes of local government, and are largely 
local affairs ; school corporations exist for the carrying out 
of a state purpose, are largely independent of local control, 
and are under the supervision of a special department of 
the state government. A school district and a municipality 
frequently have entirely different boundaries, as, for ex- 
ample, in the case of Butte. 

SCHOOL DISTRICTS OF THE FIRST CLASS 

To carry out the state purpose better, the school dis- 
tricts of the state are classified under the law as districts 
of the first, second, or third class, and larger independent 
powers are given to the larger districts. A school district 
which has a population of 8,000 or over within its boun- 
daries is classified as a school district of the first class, 
and to this classification Butte belongs. Such are to be 
governed by a Board of School Trustees of seven mem- 
bers, to be elected by the legal voters of the school dis- 
trict, at the annual April school elections, for three-year 
terms. The Board, when properly organized, becomes a 
body corporate and politic, with power to sue and be sued, 
make contracts, purchase and hold school property, and 
conduct the schools of the district according to the pro- 
visions of the school law of the state. Each such board 
in a district of the first class has power (School Laws, 



Administration of the Sclwols 13 

Sees. 507-8), also, to establish high schools; to transport 
children to a central school or schools; to establish night 
schools; to add any new branches of instruction which 
they may desire to add; to establish and maintain kinder- 
gartens (Sec. 602) ; to appoint a School Clerk (Sec. 504), 
to attend to the business affairs of the Board; and to ap- 
point (Sec. 1502) a City Superintendent of Schools, "for 
not longer than a three-year term," who "shall have super- 
vision of the schools of the district" and who "shall be 
the executive officer of the board." 

LARGE POWERS OF THE STATE 

Even in districts of the first class the powers of the 
School Board come from the state and not from the city; 
its authority to act comes from the state school law; and 
its limitations are imposed by the state. The state even 
says what subjects must be taught (Sec. 601) ; what text- 
books must be used in the schools (Sees. 1 800-181 3) ; may 
prescribe the course of study which must be used (Sec. 
202, Div. 8) ; and may even examine the pupils in any 
school system, to test whether or not they shall be pro- 
moted from the elementary schools to the high school ( Sec. 
106, Div. 4). 

These state regulations have been prescribed largely in 
an effort to protect the schools from the attacks or the 
neglect of short-sighted communities, the power being given 
to the state to prevent such communities from defrauding 
their children out of the educational rights and opportuni- 
ties which the state has, in its wisdom, decreed that the 
children of the state shall have. 

LIMITATIONS OF STATE CONTROL FOR CITY SCHOOL SYSTEMS 

State oversight is both the strength and the weakness 
of the schools. In small districts, especially those of the 
third class (under 1,000 inhabitants), most of the limita- 



14 Problems hi City School Administration 

tions Imposed are very desirable, but In districts of the 
first class, especially districts having 25,000 or more in- 
habitants, some of the limitations and requirements of the 
state must be remitted. The Survey commission is glad 
to record that the state educational authorities have used 
the option allowed them and have granted the Butte school 
district freedom from the uniform state examinations, and 
permission to frame its own course of study. These were 
important grants, had they been fully availed of. Instead, 
the state examinations have merely been replaced by local 
examinations, almost equally unpedagogical and deadly in 
their results (see Chapters VI and X) ; while the permission 
to frame a local course of study has only in part been 
availed of (see Chapter VIII). 

A district of the first class, and especially such a large 
district as that of Butte, should also be allowed to use 
other books than the regular state textbooks, if It should 
so desire. State oversight and control should never go to 
the extent of Interfering with local initiative and local 
efficiency. In the matter of textbooks, Butte, for its 
particular needs, could easily improve on some of the state- 
adopted textbooks which it must now use; to enforce the 
use of the state course of study and the state promotional 
examinations on Butte would be. If a good school system 
is to be maintained, little short of a calamity. The meth- 
ods, aims, and purposes of an efficient modern city school 
system, such as Butte ought to develop for Its children, 
and the methods, aims, and purposes of the state course 
of study and the state examinations, made out, as these 
have been, with the needs of untrained teachers in Isolated 
rural schools primarily In mind, are so diametrically op- 
posed that the two are not reconcilable. The results on 
the schools of Butte, in the past, of this state-type of in- 
struction was brought out fully by the tests which were 
given by the Survey commission (see Chapter IX), and 
the changes and reorganizations now needed have been 
set forth at some length in Chapters VII and VIII. 



Administration of the Schools 15 

(2) The Board and Its Problems 

Within the limits prescribed by law the Board of Trus- 
tees for School District No. i of Silver Bow County, Mon- 
tana, more commonly known as the Butte school district, 
have official control of the schools. The title to the school 
property rests with them, and, as a continuing body, they 
pass the title on to their successors. They appoint their 
own executive officers, employ principals and teachers for 
the schools, determine what schools shall be maintained 
and what new types of instruction shall be provided, de- 
termine the school tax to be levied, and have power to 
make rules and regulations, not inconsistent with the state 
law or the rules and regulations of the state board of edu- 
cation, for the government of the schools of the district. 
Within the limits laid down by the school law of the state 
the powers of the Board of School Trustees are large, — 
too large, in fact, for any lay board of school officers to 
exercise intelligently, unless they obtain and follow as good 
expert advice as they are able to obtain. 

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF THE BOARD 

To guide the board in its official actions the law has 
provided for the appointment, in school districts of the first 
class, of two executive officers, — a Clerk, and a City Super- 
intendent of Schools. The success of a school system such 
as that of Butte depends largely upon the intelligence used 
by the Board in selecting the best possible persons for these 
offices, and then upon how fully they rely, in their many 
official acts, on the judgment of the officials selected. Only 
the best men available for the money the Board can afford 
to pay should be selected for these positions. 

The City Superintendent of Schools, for a city school 
system the size of Butte, should be the official head of the 
school system, and much of the policy in the development 
of the school system should emanate from him. He, more 



i6 Problems in City School Administration 

than anyone else, should be the thinking and constructive 
leader of the schools. When he is so, the Board should 
follow his judgment and leadership, and should not super- 
impose its own judgment, except in matters of large im- 
portance. When he is not, the Board should secure a suc- 
cessor who will think, and can lead. In all such matters 
as the courses of study, the appointment, promotion, trans- 
fer, and dismissal of teachers, and the organization of in- 
struction, the Board should act only on the recommendation 
of the City Superintendent of Schools. In the matter of 
new school buildings and the repair and reconstruction of 
old buildings, all plans should be subject to his approval, 
to insure that good hygienic standards are followed. 

While the School Clerk should be intrusted with many 
business matters, and often with power to act independently 
in the name of the Board of Trustees, he should, never- 
theless, in all such educational matters as the purchase 
of school supplies, the relations of the Clerk's office to the 
teachers and the schools, or the maintenance of efficiency in 
the janitor service, act in harmony with the wishes of the 
City Superintendent of Schools. In other words, the City 
Superintendent of Schools, as the chief executive officer 
of the Board of School Trustees, should have official over- 
sight and coordinating authority over the office of the 
School Clerk, as well as over all other employees of the 
Board of School Trustees. If he is a man of good judg- 
ment and good sense he will allow large independence and 
use his authority but seldom, but the fact that such coor- 
dinating authority rests with him will do much to promote 
efficiency and secure proper relationships within the school 
system. The chart on the following page shows the rela- 
tionships which should exist. 



Administration of the Schools 



17 









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1 8 Problems in City School Administration 

THE PROPER OFFICIAL RELATION BETWEEN THE BOARD AND 
THE SUPERINTENDENT 

So long as the Board of Trustees has confidence in the 
abiHty and good judgment of the Superintendent of 
Schools, he should be supported in his efforts to improve 
and advance the interests of the schools; when the Board 
loses this confidence they should replace him by someone 
in whose ability and good judgment they have confidence. 
They should not make the common mistake of attempting 
to assume authority in educational matters themselves, 
concerning which they cannot act intelligently, nor should 
they permit the Superintendent of Schools to evade his 
proper responsibility by putting it off upon them. Book 
agents, supply agents, applicants for teachers' positions, 
disgruntled teachers and principals, and all others seeking 
favors In the school department, should at once be re- 
ferred to the Superintendent of Schools, with the simple 
statement that the Board makes it a rule to take no action 
in such matters except upon his recommendation. When 
once this is generally understood by the community, the 
Board members will be saved the waste of much valuable 
time, and the efficiency of the educational service will be 
greatly improved. The Superintendent will naturally make 
some mistakes, but a much smaller number than will the 
members of the Board of School Trustees. One impor- 
tant measure of the efficiency and capacity of a Superin- 
tendent of Schools is his willingness and his ability to 
assume authority and to carry large responsibilities, and, 
conversely, one important measure of the intelligence and 
educational insight of a Board of School Trustees for a 
city school system is the degree to which they refer edu- 
cational matters to the Superintendent and intrust him to 
act for them, and then stand firmly behin-d him when he 
acts. 



Administration of tJte Schools 19 

THE board's proper FUNCTION" 

This does not mean that the Board of School Trustees 
will have nothing left to do. On the contrary, there will 
still be plenty left for them to manage. It simply means 
that in those matters which are matters of expert judg- 
ment, and which no board of laymen is competent to de- 
cide, they ought to act only on the recommendation of the 
educational expert they employ, and ought to trust. It is 
a sheer waste of public funds to pay $4,000 for an edu- 
cational expert, and then disregard his advice and judg- 
ment. In all matters such as the hygienic aspects of school- 
house construction, the outlining of courses of study, the 
selection of text and supplemental books, passing on the 
competency of instruction or the efficiency of the service 
in the school department, — matters which no board of lay- 
men is competent to pass intelligently upon,— action should 
be based only on the recommendation of the expert edu- 
cational officer of the Board. 

This leaves the Board free to attend to the main busi- 
ness which they are elected to handle, and frees them from 
the hundreds of petty annoyances incident to the personal 
pulls and influences which beset any lay school board which 
attempts to exercise expert functions. The large problems 
which a Board of School Trustees must handle are the 
selection of expert advisers and assistants, upon which 
great care should be exercised ; the selection of school sites, 
always with future needs in mind; the erection of school 
buildings, to see that they meet good standards and are 
properly built; the larger problems of finance, present and 
future; the determination of the annual budget; the ap- 
proval of expenses incurred; the final decision as to pro- 
posed expansions and developments of the public educa- 
tional system under their control; and the representation 
of the needs of the school system before the people of the 
community, and, if necessary, before the legislature of the 
state. These larger needs are far more important and 



20 Problems in City School Administration 

far more vital than the smaller and more personal details 
of school administration to which Boards of School Trus- 
tees too frequently devote the larger part of their energy 
and thinking, — often to the detriment of the schools under 
their control. 



FUNDAMENTAL ADMINISTRATIVE PRINCIPLES 

By way of summary it may be stated that the chief 
function of a Board of School Trustees is to govern, rather 
than minutely to supervise or direct; to watch the larger 
problems of its work, and to trust the smaller ones to the 
experts it employs; and to keep themselves free from the 
personal influences and personal and party pulls which so 
constantly surround them, by placing all personal matters 
in the hands of an expert who knows what ought to be 
done, and who has the courage to stand for fundamental 
educational principles and policies. The school business 
of Butte is an important part of this community's efforts 
at self-government and self-improvement, and the purpose 
for which the schools were created and are maintained 
is the proper education of the school population of the 
community. They exist, in no sense of the word, to afford 
positions for teachers or contracts for individuals. Posi- 
tions and contracts are purely incidental and subordinate 
and should be kept so, in order that the best possible edu- 
cation of the children, for whom the schools exist, may 
be carried on under the best conditions that are possible. 



CHAPTER II 
THE TEACHING CORPS 

(i) Selection and Training of Teachers 

"pXATA with respect to high-school training and normal- 
"^ school work before beginning teaching in Butte, pro- 
fessional training since entering the service in the city 
system, and experience in years in Butte and elsewhere, 
were collected on a blank furnished to all teachers, prin- 
cipals, and supervisory officers in the school system.^ The 
results are given in Table I, on page 2.2. 

the preparation for teaching of the present corps 

Some of the more important facts shown by the data 
collected are presented briefly below: 

1. Of 181 elementary-school teachers who filled out 
the blank, 93 took their high-school training in Butte, 14 
in other cities in Montana, and 74 outside the state of 
Montana. 

2. Eighty-seven of these elementary teachers had no 
professional training before beginning to teach in Butte; 
41 had some professional training, varying from 4 weeks to 
2 years, in Montana ; while 53 had some professional train- 
ing, varying from 4 weeks to 2 years, outside the state 
of Montana. Of the whole number of elementary-school 
teachers reporting (181), only 22 had two years' normal- 
school or other professional training beyond their high- 
school course before beginning to teach in Butte, 

3. Of the elementary-school principals, 6 out of 16 
had two years of normal-school or other professional train- 
ing, beyond the high-school course, before beginning to 

1 For form of blank, see Appendix B. 
21 



22 



Problems in City School Administration 



TABLE I 

Education, Professional Training, and Teaching Experience of 
Principals, Supervisors, Special Teachers, and Teachers in 
Elementary Schools 



High school education obtained — 

1. In Butte 

2. In other Montana high schools 

3 . Elsewhere 

Having no college training beyond high school 
Normal training before entering service in 

Butte— 

1. None , 

2. In Montana 

3. Elsewhere 

Training since entering Butte — 

1. None 

2. Normal school 

3. College or university 

Years of Teaching Experience — • 

1. In Butte— 

o to 4 years 

5 to 9 years 

10 to 14 years 

2. Elsewhere — • 

o to 4 years 

5 to 9 years 

10 or more years 

3. Total years' experience — 

o to 4 years 

4 to 9 years 

10 to 14 years 

15 to 19 years 

20 or more years 





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97 


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74 


93 


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161 


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87 


91 


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41 


44 


10 


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147 


159 


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74 


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33 


7 


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116 


127 


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2 


17 


19 


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61 


64 


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47 


49 


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37 


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21 


27 



teach in Butte. Of the special teachers and supervisors, 8 
had some professional training before beginning to teach 
in Butte, and 6 had 2 years or more of professional train- 
ing before entering upon service in the city school system. 



The Teaching Corps 23 

4. The high-school teachers were, as required by a 
regulation of the Board of Trustees, graduates of ap- 
proved colleges or universities, but many of them had no 
specific professional training for their work. It was not 
possible on the form which was filled out to discover, with 
respect to high-school teachers, the exact nature or extent 
of their professional training. 

5. One hundred and forty-seven out of 181 elementary- 
school teachers reporting have had no professional train- 
ing since entering the service in Butte; 15 have had some 
normal-school training, usually a summer school; and 19 
have attended summer sessions in connection with colleges 
or universities. 

6. Of the 16 elementary-school principals, 9 have had 
no professional training since entering the service In Butte, 
while 7 have attended summer schools In connection with 
normal schools or universities, since entering their period 
of service. 

7. Out of 35 high-school teachers reporting, 12 have 
attended summer sessions since entering upon their work 
in the Butte high school. 

8. Of all of the teachers in the city school system, 97 
have taught in the Butte schools from i to 4 years, 70 from 
5 to 9 years, 40 from 10 to 14 years, and 36 for more than 
15 years. One hundred and fifty-one of these teachers 
have taught from i to 4 years outside of Butte, 46 have 
taught elsewhere from 5 to 9 years, and 15 have had ex- 
perience of more than 10 years outside of the Butte school 
system. (These data Include the high-school teachers.) 

CONCLUSIONS FROM THE DATA AS TO PREPARATION 

Any careful consideration of these data, especially when 
taken in connection with the discussion of the quality of 
instruction (Chapter VII), and the efficiency of the school 
system as measured by the achievements of school children 
(Chapter IX), leads Inevitably to the conclusion that, as 



24 Problems in City School Administration 

a body, the Butte teachers lacked adequate professional 
training before entering service in the Butte school system, 
and that few of them have felt it necessary to secure such 
professional training since entering upon their duties as 
teachers in Butte. No city may hope to develop an effi- 
cient school system without requiring professional training 
for all who would teach in the system. In all progressive 
cities known to the members of the Survey commission, 
no teacher Is appointed to a position in the elementary 
schools who has not had at least two years of professional 
training beyond her high-school course. It is, of course, 
even more important that principals and supervisory offi- 
cers should have had such training. In the light of these 
facts, the commission have decided to make a specific rec- 
ommendation with regard to the professional training of 
those now in the teaching corps, and most strongly recom- 
mend that hereafter no one be elected to a position as a 
teacher or supervisor who has not had at least two years 
of professional training beyond the high-school course. 

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER PROFESSIONAL TRAINING 
OF THE TEACHERS AND PRINCIPALS 

In order not to work any undue hardship upon those 
who are now at work in the school system, the plan out- 
lined below for providing professional training is recom- 
mended by the Survey commission. As has already been 
indicated, the great majority of the elementary-school 
teachers lack adequate professional training. These teach- 
ers, in their work in the Butte school system, have had 
similar experiences and faced similar problems and diffi- 
culties. It seems, therefore, to the commission, that much 
might be gained by organizing in Butte, either for the four 
weeks immediately following the close of the school year, 
or for the four weeks immediately preceding the opening 
of the next school term, a summer school in which the 
elementary-school teachers and principals would be organ- 



The Teaching Corps 25 

ized in five or six groups, according to the grades in which 
they teach or the special supervisory work in which they 
are engaged. Such a school should be under the direction 
of the Superintendent of Schools, who should secure pro- 
fessional specialists as instructors. This school should be 
continued for at least three years in succession, and every 
teacher or principal should be required to attend two out 
of the three years. 

For those who might prefer to attend a summer school 
of six weeks elsewhere, provision should be made that, 
upon the approval by the Superintendent of Schools of the 
courses which they elect to take in these summer schools, 
they might substitute the work in summer sessions in con- 
nection with normal schools, colleges, or universities for 
the summer school in Butte. Since those now at work in 
the school system have, by virtue of the contracts which 
they now hold with the Board of School Trustees, earned 
the salary which these contracts call for, the commission 
believes that it would be only fair to allow to every teacher 
or principal attending the summer school in Butte, or else- 
where, one month's salary in addition to that called for 
by the present contract. We recognize that this would 
involve an additional annual expenditure of approximately 
$20,000 in salaries, as well as the cost of the summer school 
in Butte. The local summer school would probably cost at 
least $5,000. The commission are of the opinion, how- 
ever, that there is no way in which $25,000 could be spent 
to better advantage from the standpoint of improving the 
efficiency of the whole school system. 

(2) The Salaries of Teachers 

Any discussion of the efficiency of the teaching corps 
must take into consideration the salaries paid to the teach- 
ing body. The only satisfactory basis for a discussion of 
the salaries in Butte is to be found by comparing the sala- 
ries paid in this school system with those found in other 



26 Problems in City School Administration 

Western cities. The following table presents the data nec- 
essary for this comparison: 

TABLE II 
Comparative Salary Schedules in Western Cities 





Teachers 


Principals 


City 


Minimum 


Maximum 


Minimum 


Maximum 




Salary 


Salary 


Salary 


Salary 


I. Elementary Schools: 










Alameda, Cal 


$ 840 


$1140 


$1620 


$2160 


Berkeley, Cal 


840 
800 


1200 


1320 


2280 


BUTTE, MONT 


950 


1120 


1540 


Los Angeles, Cal 


744 


1200 


1200 


2400 


Oakland, Cal 


780 


1200 


1500 


2400 


Pasadena, Cal 


800 


IIOO 


1200 


1900 


Portland, Ore 


725 


IIOO 


1050 


2150 


Salt Lake City, Utali . . 


600 


1020 






San Diego, Cal 


792 


1032 


1200 


2004 


San Francisco, Cal 


840 


1224 


1320 


2260 


Seattle, Wash 


840 


mo 


1200 


2040 


Tacoma, Wash 


600 


960 


1140 


1800 


2. High Schools: 










Alameda, Cal 


1200 


1440 




.... 


Berkeley, Cal 


1080 


1500 














BUTTE, MONT 


1200 


14001 














Los Angeles, Cal 


1200 


1560 














Oakland, Cal 


1140 

IIOO 


1500 














Pasadena, Cal 


1600 














Portland, Ore 


1150 


1350 














Salt Lake City, Utah.. 


850 


1400 














San Diego, Cal 


1200 


1524 














San Francisco, Cal .... 


1500 


1680 














Seattle, Wash 


1020 


1560 














Tacoma, Wasl 


810 


1350 







It is evident from the table given above that the mini- 
mum salary paid to elementary-school teachers in Butte 
compares favorably with that paid in other Western cities, 
but that the maximum salary paid is lower than that found 
elsewhere. 

^ One teacher paid $1,500. 



The Teaching Corps 27 

RECOMMENDATIONS AS TO SALARIES 

It is the opinion of the Survey commission that those 
teachers now in the system should, during the next three 
years, consider the extra month's salary paid for attend- 
ance upon a summer school in Butte or elsewhere as a 
satisfactory increase in salary. This recommendation seems 
valid to the members of the commission in the light of the 
minimum of professional training now enjoyed by the very 
great majority of the teachers in the Butte school system. 

For those coming into the school system, who have had 
professional training and experience, the commission rec- 
ommend a salary schedule beginning at $900 and increas- 
ing automatically by $50 increments annually up to $1,000. 
After the salary of $1,000 has been reached, further in- 
crease should be made to depend upon professional training 
or special assignment of work. The commission believe 
that for each of two summer sessions, a further increase 
of $50 a year in salary should be allowed. (This further 
increase should also be allowed to teachers now in the 
school system after two summer sessions have been at- 
tended, in Butte or elsewhere, for which an additional 
month's salary has been paid.) 

For one year's work in a teachers' college, or other ap- 
proved professional school, an increase of $100 in salary 
should be allowed, provided that no elementary-school 
teacher's salary shall be greater than $1,200 annually 

A PROBATIONARY PERIOD FOR INEXPERIENCED TEACHERS 

If those who have had a four years' high-school course, 
plus a two years' normal-school course, are admitted to the 
system without experience, the commission recommend 
that they be paid, during the first year of service, not more 
than $750, and that during that year they be regularly 
employed in the school system as assistant or substitute 
teachers. When not on duty as substitute teachers, these 



28 Problems in City School Administration 

inexperienced teachers should be placed in the rooms of 
the most capable teachers in the school system, and should, 
under the direction of the general supervisory officers, re- 
ceive careful training for the grade of v^ork which, in the 
judgment of the supervisory officers, they are best able to 
perform. 

SALARIES OF SPECIAL TEACHERS 

Those teachers who are charged with the responsibility 
of training, under the direction of the general supervisory 
officers, these inexperienced teachers should receive $ioo 
annually, in addition to the salary to which they are regu- 
larly entitled as per the recommendations made above, and 
they should be designated as training teachers. 

Teachers who are placed in charge of classes for back- 
ward or deficient children should receive these positions 
only after at least six weeks of special training with refer- 
ence to the problem of teaching such classes. They should 
be given $ioo in addition to the salary to which they 
would be regularly entitled, as provided in the schedule 
suggested above. 

SALARIES OF PRINCIPALS 

In the judgment of the commission, all elementary- 
school principals should receive a minimum salary of 
$1,200. An increase above that amount, or beyond the 
salary now paid to them, should be postponed until after 
two summer sessions have been spent by them in the study 
of supervisory problems, either in the Butte summer school 
or elsewhere. After such professional training has been 
secured, salaries should be increased automatically, by $ioo 
increments annually, up to $1,400. For principals who 
show superior skill as executive officers, whose ability as 
supervisors of instruction in the training of the teachers 
under their direction is certified by the Superintendent of 
Schools, whose professional interest and enthusiasm are 



The Teaching Corps 29 

recognized by the members of the general supervisory 
corps, increases by $100 increments up to $1,600 should 
be provided, depending upon the study of supervision and 
related subjects for at least six weeks in a summer school 
for each increment of $100. 



SALARIES FOR HIGH-SCHOOL TEACHERS 

The minimum salary paid to high-school teachers in 
Butte compares favorably with most other Western cities. 
There does not seem to be enough provision for an increase 
in salary to enable the system to secure and hold the most 
capable teachers. The commission recommends that the 
minimum salary be put at $1,250, and that increases of 
$50 annually be allowed until a maximum of $1,400 has 
been reached. For those superior teachers who are willing 
to spend at least six weeks in the summer sessions of 
recognized colleges and universities, in the study of such 
subjects as may be approved by the Superintendent of 
Schools and the high-school principal, the commission rec- 
ommends that increments of $100 for each summer ses- 
sion, up to $1,600, be allowed. 

For high-school teachers, either now employed or later 
to be employed, who possess unusual skill as teachers, exec- 
utive ability, and professional interest and enthusiasm, the 
commission recommends the creation of the position of 
head of department, with a minimum salary of $1,600 and 
a maximum salary of $1,800, the maximum of $1,800 to 
be reached by increments of $100 only upon the recom- 
mendation of the Superintendent of Schools and the high- 
school principal, and only by virtue of the possession of 
superior professional training, or by reason of study in 
summer sessions, or in universities during other parts of 
the academic year, of the problems which are especially 
important to their several fields. It would seem to the 
Survey commission unwise to plan to create immediately 
heads of departments for each subject taught in the high 



30 Problems in City School Administration 

school. Such positions should be held for those now in 
the system who show unusual professional interest and 
growth, or for those who are later to be brought into the 
system, on account of superior ability and training. 

ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF THE SALARY PLAN PROPOSED 

The plan outlined above for establishing salary sched- 
ules for teachers of the Butte school system recognizes 
the fact that it is necessary to pay a minimum salary in 
order to justify the investment in time and money which is 
essential for preparation for teaching. The plan further 
recognizes the need for an increase beyond this minimum 
salary for all teachers who are considered satisfactory 
workers in the system. The practice of the most progres- 
sive cities of the United States has led to the recommenda- 
tion that the maximum salary be granted only to those 
who are willing to secure special professional training, and 
who demonstrate special ability. It is always unwise to 
increase, automatically, the salaries of all teachers from 
the minimum to the maximum, since under such a system 
there are always those who early in their careers cease to 
be students, and consequently cease to grow in efficiency. 
The provisions enumerated for special training will, we 
believe, provide in the school system a group of wide- 
awake, growing, enthusiastic teachers, who must prove an 
invaluable asset in improving the efficiency of the school 
system. 



CHAPTER III 

SCHOOL BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT 

npHE problem of school buildings and their equipment 
■■• had been most carefully studied, and reports had been 
prepared and presented by the school architect and the 
county health officer, and by the city health officer, prior 
to the beginning of the work of the School Survey com- 
mission. Access to these reports was freely granted, and 
they were found to be in substantial agreement. The mem- 
bers of the commission took copies of the reports with 
them, upon visiting the majority of the buildings, and found 
that they could, in the main, concur with the recommenda- 
tions which had already been made. This section of the 
report will, therefore, not attempt to recite in detail the 
deficiencies and needs for improvement in each of the school 
buildings. Such a report would necessarily only duplicate 
the reports which are already available for the School 
Board and for the citizens of the city. The commission 
have felt, however, that it was worth while to emphasize 
certain deficiencies which are common, and to make certain 
recommendations with regard to future development. 

SCHOOL SITES 

It Is unfortunate that the school sites which have here- 
tofore been purchased have been so small. The general 
plan of location of school buildings which has been fol- 
lowed in the past is that of purchasing a corner of a block, 
and then placing the school building near the property line 
of the two streets. So long as the streets are unpaved 
and no street cars pass the buildings the noise is not par- 
ticularly objectionable, but with the coming of streets paved 

31 



32 Problems in City School Administration 

with brick or stone, and the laying of the street-car tracks 
in concrete, the noise of passing traffic becomes so great 
that school work can scarcely be carried on. There are a 
number of rooms in the present high-school building, for 
example, where, if the windows are open, teachers are 
practically compelled to stop work when a street car is 
passing the building. 

A school-building site should be large enough that the 
building may be placed somewhat back from the street to 
escape some of the noise, and also to allow for playground 
facilities on each side of the building. The recent action 
taken by the Board of Trustees in presenting to the people, 
for their vote, the proposition to spend $150,000 on repairs 
for school buildings and for enlarging school grounds, in 
order to provide better playground facilities, cannot be too 
strongly commended. In the future, school sites should 
never be bought unless there is ample ground not only 
for the building, but for playgrounds for both sexes as 
well. 

TYPES OF BUILDINGS FOUND 

The common type of schoolhouse construction which 
has been followed in the past is what may be called the 
square type, as contrasted with the elongated type, which 
will be described further on in this chapter. The picture 
of the Franklin School, reproduced opposite this page, 
shows the type very well. As this building was recon- 
structed in 1 9 10, it may be taken to represent one of the 
more recent types of schoolhouses constructed. As will 
be pointed out further on, a square building does not en- 
able an architect to provide the right type of classroom 
arrangement, lighting facilities, or the proper arrangement 
of supplemental rooms, such as will be explained later on. 

Most of the buildings examined showed many defects 
from the standpoint of proper schoolhouse construction. 
The ceilings in many cases are too high, with the result 
that much fuel is used in heating the buildings, and much 



School Buildings and Equipment 



33 




34 Problems in City School Administration 

more stair climbing Is required. With a high ceiling, either 
more space must be used for stairways, or the incline of the 
stairs must be sharper. The fire escapes provided for many 
of the buildings are poorly arranged, children in a number 
of cases being compelled to go up steps and through a 
window In order to reach the fire escape; whereas the fire 
escape should be reached. In all cases, through a door pro- 
vided with patent Inside openers. 

In most of the buildings examined, the ventilating sys- 
tem was so poor that open windows had to be depended 
upon, in most of the rooms, for ventilating purposes. The 
air Intakes were near the ground. Instead of at the top 
of the building, and the smoked and dirty walls showed 
plainly that the ventilating system was not a satisfactory 
one. In a community such as Butte, where so much soft, 
smoky coal is used, all air sent to the schoolrooms for 
ventilating purposes should first be passed through a wash- 
ing chamber, to remove the soot and dirt from it. 

The toilet facilities provided in most of the buildings 
are Inadequate, there being only about one half the number 
of toilets provided which good schoolhouse construction 
requires. The ratio used by the best schoolhouse architects 
is one toilet for every fifteen girls, and one toilet or urinal 
for every fifteen boys, whereas the ratio commonly found 
here varied from one to twenty-five to one to forty pupils. 
The buildings generally were inadequately supplied with 
drinking fountains, and the basements of many were dirty, 
and some contained inflammable material which ought to 
be kept in special rooms. 

TYPICAL CLASSROOMS FOUND 

The drawing on the following page shows a typical 
classroom as found in Butte. It will be noticed that the 
lighting is from two sides, that the room is square, and that 
the room is relatively large. Many still larger rooms are 
to be found in the different schools. In some of the build- 



School Buildings and Equipment 



35 



ings, and even in some of the recently constructed ones, 
rooms were seen in which the light came from three sides 



4'2 



TT T'''^^ TT 



o o 

□ □ 

o o 

□ □ 

o o 

o o 

□ □ 

n n 



o o o o 

□ □ □ □ 

o o o o 

n □ □ □ 

O O O O 

P [^ O Q 

D n n n 



^::i 



Fig. 3. A Typical Classroom in Butte 

A classroom in the Lincoln School. This is a typical Butte class- 
room, though there are many which are still larger. The square room, 
lighted from two sides, and the heavy divisions between the windows 
are the prominent characteristics of the room. The glare of light in 
such a room is very trying to the eyes. 



instead of two, though two is the almost universal arrange- 
ment. The ratio of glass to floor space is not the only 



36 Problems hi City School Administration 

factor; the light must come into the room in the proper 
manner also. On the new Washington School, which is 
now in process of construction, these fundamental errors 
have been repeated in a number of the classrooms, and in 
two rooms the lighting comes from three sides. As a 
result, in almost every room in the city, the resulting glare 
and shadows must prove most injurious to the eyes of both 
the children and the teacher. In future buildings, no room 
should be lighted from more than one side, and the ar- 
rangement of windows should be as is indicated in the 
drawing and description given on the opposite page. 

In nearly all classrooms examined the blackboards were 
in poor condition, and in general were too high from the 
floors. Many of the blackboards now in use are shiny, 
difficult to write upon, and harder to read from. Any 
that are to be kept in use should be resurfaced frequently, 
and as soon as possible slate blackboards should be sub- 
stituted. The commission wishes to commend most heart- 
ily the action of the Board of Trustees in calling for bids 
for a carload of slate blackboards to replace the poorer of 
the composition boards now in use. 

The walls in many of the buildings are dirty, and of a 
most unsatisfactory color. They should be retinted, in 
light and soft neutral tones, and kept in good condition. 

In all of the buildings, many of the children are sitting 
in seats which are positively injurious to them. In two 
rooms noted one fourth of the children could not touch the 
floor with their feet. All new seats bought should be of 
the adjustable type, and janitors should be required, under 
the supervision of the principal, to readjust, at least twice 
a year, such seats as may need to be changed. While the 
non-adjustable seats are still in use, seats of different sizes 
should be provided in each room, in order to make better 
provision for the varying physical development of the chil- 
dren who are to be found there. Many of the seats in 
the city should be scraped and varnished before the next 
school term opens. 



School Buildings and Equipment 



37 



A PROPER TYPE OF CLASSROOM 

Figure 4 shows a good type of classroom, such as is 
now provided in all well-built schoolhouses. It will be 




30' Q" 



4'4 



^ 



D 



ononoDoDonoDon 
ononoDoDoDonon 
ononononoDoDon 

oDoDoDonoDoDoD 
oDoDoDonoDoDoD 

onoQonononoQoQ 



Fig. 4. Proper Arrangement of Classroom 

This room has approximately the same floor area as the other 
(Fig. 3), but the space is better arranged. The windows are banked 
on one side, and the narrow divisions between the windows, formed 
by steel I beams, eliminate shadows. The light comes to all pupils 
over the left shoulder, and more from the rear than the front. The 
ceilings should not exceed 12 to 13 feet, and the windows should go 
to the ceiling. 

noted that the lighting is from one side, that the windows 
are closely banked, that the heavy mullions which charac- 
terize the Butte buildings have been eliminated, and that 
the lighting comes more from the back than from the front 
of the room. The room is also built on the dimensions of 
approximately three wide by four long, so as to secure 
adequate lighting in all parts of the room. By such an 



38 Problems in City School Administration 

arrangement of windows and seats, every child is provided 
with adequate light, coming over his left shoulder, and 
no one has to face a glare of light as at present. 

A NEW TYPE OF BUILDING NEEDED 

In all future construction, a new type of school building 
should be provided. A picture of one of the best of our 
modern types of school buildings is here introduced. It 
will be seen from the figure that this is a fourteen-classroom 
building, with eight classrooms on the front and six on 
the back, and with an assembly hall projecting from the 
rear in place of two of the lower classrooms. The con- 
struction is simple, all fancy exterior ornamentation has 
been eliminated, and the building is designed to provide 
the best of conditions for the children inside of the build- 
ing, rather than to produce a fancy exterior to please the 
architect. The building also is what may be called the 
elongated type, as opposed to the square type shown in 
the picture of the Franklin School. A comparison of the 
two pictures will show what entirely different types of 
buildings the two are. The picture showing the desirable 
type also has an advantage in that, at any time, it may be 
extended by adding four classrooms on each end. 

To get a better idea of interior arrangements, we also 
reproduce, on the following pages, three floor plans, show- 
ing the interior arrangement of another and a slightly 
larger example of one of the best of our more recent build- 
ings. An examination of these plans will show the many 
advantages of such a building over the present type of 
building in Butte. The lighting arrangements are excel- 
lent, classrooms are of the proper size and dimensions, but 
little space is used in corridors, and the building is pro- 
vided with many of those extra facilities—such as gym- 
nasium, assembly hall, retiring rooms, teachers' rooms, and 
special classrooms — which should characterize any mod- 
ern school building. By means of two sliding doors, which 



School Buildings and Equipment 



39 




40 Problems in City School Administration 





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School Buildings and Equipment 



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42 



Problems in City School Administration 




School Buildings and Equipment 43 

can be drawn to shut off the lower corridor, the assembly 
hall may be used in the evening for community meetings, 
lectures, entertainments, or any other similar purpose, and 
with no access to the building other than through the front 
entrance and the corridor leading to the assembly hall. 
Such a type of building could be made of the greatest 
service, in the education of the whole people, in such a 
community as Butte, and could be made a social as well as 
an educational center for the community in which it is 
located. 

THE ADVISABILITY OF ERECTING LARGER SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

The Survey commission feel very strongly that the 
School Trustees have been making a fundamental error 
in erecting so many small buildings. If the financial rec- 
ords, pointed out as desirable in Chapter V, were available, 
the commission have no doubt that these small buildings 
would be found to cost much more per capita for main- 
tenance than the larger buildings. That they are not so 
efficient educationally there can be little question. The 
Board of Trustees ought, in the future, to plan to erect 
buildings containing sixteen to twenty classrooms. If one 
room is used for a kindergarten, one for a special type of 
schoolroom, and provision is then made for domestic sci- 
ence and manual training in the buildings, but sixteen 
classrooms will be left, for ordinary classroom purposes, 
in a twenty-classroom building. This number of rooms 
is desirable, not only from the standpoint of economical 
administration, but also because it gives an opportunity 
for the proper grading and classification of the pupils. 
The building for which floor plans have been introduced 
is such a twenty-classroom building, not counting the as- 
sembly hall or basement. 

A number of the school buildings in Butte are in such 
poor condition, and are so poorly constructed from the 
standpoint of proper standards of schoolhouse construe- 



44 Problems in City School Administration 

tion, that they ought within a short time to be replaced 
by a better type of building. As fast as can be done, 
larger buildings, modeled somewhat after the type shown, 
should be erected to replace these smaller buildings. The 
Greeley School is now in such a condition that it ought 
soon to be abandoned, and it is almost a waste of money 
to try to repair it. The Lincoln School also ought soon to 
be replaced by a better type of building. What is true of 
these two schools is true, in a certain sense, of some of the 
others, and it is probable that within the next ten to fifteen 
years the school authorities of Butte will need to replace 
a number of their buildings by schools of a better and more 
modern type. When the time comes for such reconstruc- 
tions, the Board of Trustees should build larger units and 
fewer buildings, and should try to obtain a full block of 
land for each of the larger schools. The building could 
then be located in the center of the block, removing it some- 
what from the noisy street and giving ample playground 
facilities. It would be much more economical to abolish 
some of the smaller schools and transport the pupils, even 
at public expense, to these larger central buildings, and by 
this means the education which is provided for the chil- 
dren could be very materially improved. 

INTERMEDIATE-SCHOOL AND HIGH-SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

In another part of this report the Survey commission 
have made recommendations for tlie establishment of kin- 
dergartens, special classes for backward children, and 
manual-training and domestic-science centers in each of 
the larger schools (Chapters VI and XI), and also have 
recommended the creation of intermediate schools (Chap- 
ter VIII). Should the Board of School Trustees consider 
it desirable to follow the recommendations of the Survey 
commission in the first of these, it will be found necessary 
to create a central intermediate school in order to care for 
the children of the upper grades whose rooms must be 



School Buildings and Equipment 45 

vacated if the other types of schools are to be put in the 
present buildings, most of which are already full. Should 
this be done, it would then seem to the members of the com- 
mission to be advisable to establish, in the present high- 
school plant, the intermediate school recommended in 
Chapter VIII, and to secure for the high school a new 
site, and to put up a new building better adapted to high- 
school needs. 

The present high-school plant is already too small and in 
many respects is a very unsatisfactory building. There are 
not enough classrooms to meet the needs of the present 
teaching force under a normal schedule of work. A num- 
ber of the classrooms are extremely dark, and are not fit 
for class use. In a few, electric lights have to be burned, 
even on sunshiny days. Some of the halls are dark, many 
of the rooms are noisy, and the general arrangement of the 
building is not one well adapted to the best high-school 
instruction. If the intermediate school were located in the 
present high-school plant, it would be possible to abandon 
the rooms which are most unsatisfactory, and to make such 
alterations and repairs as might be necessary to put the 
present building in a reasonably satisfactory condition. The 
present board and office rooms could then remain as they 
are, without the expense necessary to remove them to other 
quarters. 

With the present high-school population, and with the 
increase that may be anticipated during the next few years, 
it seems to the members of the commission extremely un- 
wise to spend any more money in trying to enlarge or add 
to the present high-school building. As is pointed out in 
Chapters VI and VIII, the high school should materially 
enlarge its influence in this community, especially by the 
development of more technical work^ and this cannot be 
done in any satisfactory manner in the present quarters. 
If a new high-school site of not less than a block of land 
were obtained, reasonably near the center of population 
but removed from noisy car lines, and a modern high- 



46 Problems in City School Administration 

school building were constructed on it, there could be 
placed in this building a large gymnasium and assembly 
hall, and the building could be made the main center for 
the intellectual life of the whole community. The building 
should be provided with good library facilities, and the 
needs of night classes as well as day classes should be kept 
in mind in its construction. With the proper development 
of the elementary-school system, the provision of interme- 
diate schools, with differentiated courses, and the erection 
of a high-school building suited to the educational and 
social needs of this community, it is not unreasonable to 
expect that within a few years there would be an attend- 
ance of fourteen to fifteen hundred in day classes and two 
thousand in night classes. The influence of such an edu- 
cational institution on the community can scarcely be over- 
estimated. 

The members of the commission are not unmindful, in 
making the recommendations given above, of the expense 
which would be involved in carrying out this program. 
They have found themselves, however, unable to suggest 
any other solution which seems to them to promise ade- 
quate school facilities for the children of Butte. 

JANITOR SERVICE 

The janitor service in the different buildings appeared 
to the members of the commission to be faithful but not 
always intelligent. The janitors seemed to be willing and 
attentive, but in many cases not to understand how to 
secure the best results. In two buildings members of the 
commission found janitors sweeping without using the 
sweeping compound supplied by the Board. Though the 
need for using the sweeping compound was pointed out 
to both principal and janitor, in one case a second and later 
visit to the building found the janitor following the same 
old methods. The fumigation of the buildings required 
by the regulations of the Board was, in general, carried 



School Buildings and Equipment 47 

on in such a manner as to be of practically no value. In 
one building, three out of seven of the water closets used 
by the boys were found with the seats off, and in a number 
of cases the closets would not flush. When asked about 
it, both janitor and principal said they had known of the 
defects before, but apparently no effort had been made 
to remedy the defects. Many of the desks in the school- 
rooms were in a bad condition of repair. 

The need of some intelligent supervision of the jani- 
torial force, clothed with proper authority, was evident to 
the members of the commission, and they wish to recom- 
mend that the School Clerk, who is nominally in charge 
of the janitorial force, be given, subject to the coordinating 
supervisory authority of the Superintendent of Schools, as 
is pointed out in Chapter I, supervisory control over the 
janitorial force of the city, and that he be given authority 
and power to enforce such regulations as may seem advis- 
able to secure more efficient service than is now rendered 
in the different school buildings. For the sake of thor- 
oughly cleaning the buildings, making needed repairs, over- 
hauling the ventilating systems, resurfacing and revarnish- 
ing desks, and the like, it seems to the members of the 
commission that it would be advantageous to employ the 
janitorial force throughout a portion or perhaps all of the 
summer vacation. 



CHAPTER IV 

CENSUS, RECORDS, AND REPORTS 

'T^HE schools of the city of Butte exist for the education 
-^ of all the children of the city. Only as these schools 
reach and give to the children of the city at least a com- 
plete elementary-school education, if not a high-school edu- 
cation, are they fulfilling their function and performing 
their full service. The efficiency of the schools of Butte 
can be judged, therefore, from this point of view, only 
when it is known to what extent they are reaching all of 
the children of the city of school age, and to what extent 
they are holding them in school. 

THE PRESENT SCHOOL CENSUS 

The only source of knowing the number of children in 
the school district served by the schools of Butte is the 
school census. This census is taken annually between the 
first day of September and the first day of October, imder 
the authority and direction of the clerk of the Board of 
Education. 

The school census collects the following information: 
Names of all children and youth between the ages of 6 
and 21 years, giving age, date of birth, sex, name of father, 
name of mother or guardian, residence of parent or guard- 
ian. Though not required by law, similar data are col- 
lected for all children under 6 years of age ; also, a separate 
tabulation is made for deaf, blind, and feeble-minded per- 
sons. In a word, the school census as now taken includes 
an enumeration of all persons in the district under 21 years 
of age. 

The purpose of the school census is to provide the basis 

48 



CODE NUMBERS TO BE USED IN COLUMNS 



AUTHORITY FOR 
DATE OF BIRTH 

1. Birth Certificate, 

2. Baptismal 

Certiflcatc 

3. Parent's 

Statement 


SEX 

1. Boy 

2. Girl 


RACE 

1. Wliite 

2. Negro 

.'{. Mongolian 


BIRTHPLACE OF C»^ 

1. United States 6. Italy 

2. Ireland 6. England 

3. Germany 7. Canada 

4. Russia 8. Hungary 




NAME OF CHILDREN 

LAST NAM^ FIRST NAME 


DATE OF BIRTH 


AQE 

AT 

LAST 

Birth- 
day 




BLOCK 
NO 


MO. 


DAY 


YR. 


* 
































































































































) 

1 





HOUeFR FROM WHICH NO 




CHILDREN ARE REPORTED 


F 


BLOCK 
NO. 




BLOCK 
NO. 














































Census, Records, and Reports 49 

for the apportionment of the state school fund. We are 
informed that httle if any use is made of the school census 
in determining to what extent the children enumerated are 
actually to be found in the public, private, or parochial 
schools of Butte. That is, the school census is not used 
as the basis of determining the actual number of children 
that should be enrolled in the schools. 

While the school census of District No. i Is perhaps 
as complete as such censuses generally are, and the form 
in which it is tabulated is excellent, yet in all probability, 
even if it were desired, the school census as now taken 
would not serve as an accurate base of determining the 
number of children within the district which should be in 
school. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING AND AMENDING THE SCHOOL 

CENSUS 

The prime purpose of a school census is to furnish 
accurate and complete information with respect to all chil- 
dren and youth who should be in school, and to supply 
a fact basis for the enforcement of the Compulsory Educa- 
tion Law. 

Information to Collect 

To this end, we believe, the school census should collect 
the data as called for in Form No. i.-^ In this form, in 
addition to the information now collected in the school 
census, emphasis is placed upon the nationality of children, 
on how the children and youth of the district are employed, 
and on the enrollment and non-enrollment of school chil- 
dren. Also, provision is made for memoranda on houses 
v/hich are closed and from which no children are reported. 
These memoranda serve as a simple basis of reenumeratlon. 
The form proposed to be used in the school census includes 

lA series of six forms were prepared, to illustrate this chapter of 
the report, and these are to be found in Appendix B. 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF BUTTE, MONTANA 
FORM 1. THE SCHOOL CENSUS BOOK 

CODE NUMBERS TO BE USED IN COLU MNS INDICATED BY ^ 



AUTHORITY FOR 
DATe OF BIRTH 



1. nirth Certifloflto, 



2. niipliainal 
CiTtiflciitc 



3. I'arent'8 

Stntorncrit 



8EX 

1. IJoy 

2. Girl 



2. Npgro 
:( Mongol 1 



BIRTHPLACE OF CHILD OR OF FATHER 



1. UnltwJ States 6. Italy 

2. Ireland «• England 

3. Germany 

4. liiissia 



7. Canada 

8. Hungary 



9. Poland 

10. Scotland 

11. France 

12. Rouniania 



13. Morway-Swcden 
M. China 
ii. MiRcrllancoiiB 
anrt unknown 



KINO 

OF 

SCHOOL 

1. I»ublic 

2. Parochial 

3. Private 



HOW EMPLOYED 

1 In stores (caati boys, errand fi. Street trades (newsboys, i>ed- 

boys, etc.) dlers, bootblaclvS, etC-) 
<> In office (cl«rk, office boy, etc.) 7: SkHled trades (painters, paper- 
s'. Messenger (outdoors, e. eg. Tele- I:?eUrwor^e?e'"tc') •""'"''"' 
graph, delivery service, etc.) '"s*^' workers, etc.) 
... • /I .u -^A,. „„^ /^..tci.lo 8. Service (servants, \v»itcrs, house- 

4. Mining (both inside and outside maids etc ) 

work) 

5. Factory work (laundries, foun- 

dries, mills, etc.) 



maids, etc.) 
9. Housework at home. 
10. Miscellaneous and unknown 



NAME OF CHILDREN 
Mt FIRST NAME 



DATE OF BIRTH 



CHILD 



FATHER 



PARENTS OR GUARDIAN 

(RECORD FIRST NAME OF FATHER AND OF MOTHER 
OR FULL NAMB OF MOTHER) 



RESIDENCE 



NOT ENROLLED AND 
NOT EMPLOYED 



1. To be enrolled in Sep- 
tember 



2. Incapacitated 

8. Temporarily unem 
ployed 

4. lUcRiil noh-attendiiht 



DEFECTIVE 

1. Blind 

2. Crippled 

3. Deaf 
i. Speech 

Defect 

5. Epileptic 

6. Backward 

7. Tubercular 

8. Other 

Defects 



ENROLLED 



NOT ENROLLED 



EMPLOYED 



EMPLOYER 
NAME AND ADDRESS 



Day 



Date 
Book 
Page 



DEFECTIVE 







1 ^~ 




MEMORANDA 














HOUSES FROM WHICH NO 
CHILDREN ARE REPORTED 


HOUSES CLOSED 




MISCELLANEOUS 








POR THE DAY 


FOR THE SUMMER 


VACANT 




BLOCK 
NO. 




BLOCK 
NO. 




BLOCK 
NO. 




BLOCK 
NO. 




BLOCK 
NO. 
































































—J 






====— 


1 













50 Problems in City School Administration 

all the information required by the State Law of Montana. 
This information could be tabulated and presented in such 
form as is prescribed by the State Law, while the additional 
information provided should be tabulated and made useful 
in the determining of educational policies and the enforce- 
ment of the Compulsory Education Law. 

Time to Take the Census 

At present, the school census is taken between the first 
of September and the first of October. If a school census 
is to serve its primary purpose, it should be taken earlier in 
the summer, and should be completed some weeks prior to 
the opening of the schools. When taken during the sum- 
mer, the attendance officers can be employed in the work. 
Should this be done, it would not only decrease the expense, 
but probably increase the thoroughness of the census. 
Moreover, when the census enumeration is taken prior to 
September, it is possible to complete the census fi.le hereafter 
mentioned, and tabulate material so as to be useful in de- 
termining, at the opening of the school year, the number 
of children who should be, and who are not, in school. To 
be sure, the present law prescribes the date of taking the 
census. It would seem possible, however, to secure such 
changes in the law that the enumeration might be taken at 
the time when it would be of the greatest usefulness. 

Card Census File 

While the information called for in Form No. i may 
be thus entered in the books prescribed by the State Law, 
for practical purposes the census is kept on Form No. 2, 
the School Census Card. A card is filled out for each 
child of school age, and these are filed in the office of the 
Superintendent of Schools, alphabetically, within the public 
or private or parochial school attended. A separate file is 
provided for all children who for any reason are not at- 



SCHOOL CENSUS CARD 
PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. BUTTE, 



MONTANA 



LAST NAME 






FIRST NAME 


DATE OF BIRTH 


AGE 




Parent 






Mo. 


Day 


Year 


• 


SEPT. 1 
















PHYSICAL OR MENTAL DEFECTS (Check /) 


! White 


Col'd 


Monc'l 




NATIVE COUNTRY 


BliDd 


Crip' Id 


Deaf 

_ 


Speech Epilep- 
Defect tic 


Back- 
ward 


Taber- 


Bo, 






Child 










Girl 









Father 





RESIDENCE 



SCHOOL ATTENDING 



DATE ADMITTED 



Mo. 



Day Year 



Use the following code 
ntinihers in columns dssig- 
nated by • 

Date of Birth : 

1. Birth Certificate. 

2. Baptismal Certificate. 

3. Parent's Statement. 
Cause of Non-Enrolment: 

Cause of Non- Enrolment: 

1. To be enrolled in Sept. 

2. Incapacitated. 

3. Illegal Non-.\ttcndant. 



CAUSE OF NON-ENROUMENT it 



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Census, Records, and Reports 51 

tending school as required by law. This file becomes the 
working basis of determining the number of children within 
the district who should be in school and a basis of enforcing 
the Compulsory Education Law. 

That the information contained on these census cards 
may be up to date and accurate at the time the file is first 
instituted, all schools, public, private, and parochial, should 
be required to file, in the office of the clerk of the Board 
of Education, information with regard to each child en- 
rolled in the respective school or institution at the end of 
the school year. With this complete file of children, both 
in attendance and non-attendance, each school, whether 
public, private, or parochial, is notified of the pupils that 
should be in their school at the opening of the first semester. 
This list Is, in turn, checked by the respective principals, 
and the pupils not reporting to their respective schools or 
to any school supplies the list of pupils who should be im- 
mediately looked up by the attendance officers. 

Keeping the Census File Up to Date 

In order that the census file may be kept up to date, the 
principal of each school, whether private, parochial, or 
public, should at the close of each week of the school year 
send to the office of the City Superintendent of Schools a 
School Census Card (Form No. 2), for each child admitted 
who has not been previously in attendance in any school in 
Butte. 

In addition, the principal of each school building, 
whether public, private, or parochial, should at the close of 
each week send to the office of the City Superintendent of 
Schools, on Form No. 3, (a) information with regard to 
pupils admitted on transfer, (b) information with regard 
to pupils discharged on transfer, (c) pupils discharged 
without transfer. 



52 Problems in City School Administration 



EDUCATIONAL USE OF THE CENSUS FILE 

As suggested above, the census file, after the taking of 
each school census, supplies exact information with regard 
to all children of school age in the district ; also with regard 
to the number actually attending school, and the number 
not attending for unlawful reasons, as well as the number 
not attending for lawful reasons. When this file is checked, 
at the beginning of the school year, as against the children 
actually in attendance, the school officers are supplied with 
definite lists of pupils who should receive their immediate 
attention. Through supplementing the census, by the means 
suggested, during the course of the school year, census 
officers are provided with definite information with regard 
to children that are in transit, by reason of being trans- 
ferred from one school to another, or dropped out of school 
for unknown reasons, and these lists supply the attendance 
officers with the information which enables them to follow 
up, in addition to cases actually reported by principals, all 
cases of non-attendance, where there is doubt. It is only 
by thus establishing a complete census file, and supple- 
menting it during the course of the year, that it is possible 
to know the actual number of children in school, and the 
extent to which the schools of Butte are actually keeping 
the children in school. 

PRESENT EFFECTIVENESS OF ATTENDANCE SERVICE 

The primary purpose of a complete school census is, as 
previously indicated, to supply the basis of enforcing the 
Compulsory Education Law. While there are no records 
available which indicate whether or not the schools are 
reaching all the children of school age in the community, 
there are available facts which prove that, once children 
are enrolled, they are kept in regular attendance. This is 
shown in Table III, on the following page. 



Census, Records, and Reports 



53 



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54 Problems in City School Administration 

The attendance of pupils in these two typical elementary 
schools by periods was: 

Attending less than 80 half days 2.5 per cent. 

Attending 80 and less than 90 half days 5 per cent. 

Attending 90 and less than 100 half days 9 per cent. 

Attending 100 and less than 110 half days 5 per cent. 

Attending 110 and less than 120 half days 8 per cent. 

Attending 120 and less than 130 half days 1.3 per cent. 

Attending 130 and less than 140 half days 2.6 per cent. 

Attending 140 and less than 150 half days 5.5 per cent. 

Attending 150 and less than 160 half days 14.6 per cent. 

Attending 160 and less than 170 half days 50.1 per cent. 

Attending 170 half days, the entire session 20.0 per cent. 

This is excellent school attendance, and is evidence of 
the earnest work of teachers, principals, and attendance 
officers in looking after and seeing that children are regu- 
larly at school. 



SCHOOL RECORDS NEEDED 

While it might be held that the present excellent 
attendance in the public schools is ample proof of the 
efficient enforcement of the Compulsory Education Law, 
the Survey commission are, however, of the belief that 
the effectiveness of this enforcement can be still further in- 
creased, and that, essential to such enforcement, certain 
records are indispensable: 

1. An accurate record of attendance at any school, kept 
by the teacher — that is, an accurately kept daily register 
or blotter. 

2. A uniform method of referring cases to the attend- 
ance officers, by teachers and principals. 

3. A uniform system of reporting back cases to school 
authorities, by attendance officers. 

4. A uniform system of principals' reporting to the 
Superintendent cases referred to the attendance officers, 
and the results of the investigations. 



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Census, Records, and Reports 55 

5. A uniform system of reporting to the Superintendent 
the cases investigated by the attendance officers, and the 
results of their investigations. 

The Teacher's Register or Blotter 

There is used, in the public schools of Butte, a loose- 
leaf daily blotter. The use of this blotter causes the teacher 
to copy, during the course of the year, the names of all 
the pupils in her class not less than ten times. In place 
of this loose-leaf blotter, we v^ould recommend the use of 
Form No. 4, Attendance and Scholarship Card. If deemed 
desirable, a loose-leaf blank could be substituted for the 
card. Not only v^ould the substitution of either the card 
or loose-leaf form obviate unnecessary copying of names, 
but such a form v^ould greatly facilitate the transfer of 
pupils, the individual attendance and scholarship card being 
sent to the school to v^hich the child is transferred, in 
the same v^ay as the admission, discharge, and promotion 
card is now sent. The adoption of this attendance and 
scholarship card would not only supply the data on at- 
tendance needed for the enforcement of the Compulsory 
Education Law, but it would make possible a simplification 
of the present monthly report and summary for the 
semester. The simplification of the present blotter, monthly 
report, and isummary for the semester is greatly to be de- 
sired. Moreover, the attendance and scholarship card, to 
be filed at the end of each school year with the principal, 
would serve as a cumulative attendance and scholarship 
record for the child during his entire school course. 

Report of Principal to Attendance Officers 

The report of cases by principals to attendance officers 
IS now made orally, only the name and the address of the 
child, as a rule, being given. That the present effective- 
ness of the attendance service may be increased, we be- 



56 Problems in City School Administration 

lieve that a uniform method of reporting these cases should 
be introduced. To this end, we recommend the introduc- 
tion of Form No. 5, Absent Report. This is a simple form, 
giving merely the requisite data for the location of the 
child, statement of amount of absence during the period 
in question, the date of attendance officer receiving and 
making a report on the case, and the result of the investi- 
gation. Such a record not only serves as the basis, on the 
one hand, for the attendance officer reporting his work 
to the Superintendent, but also as the basis of the principal 
keeping the official records of the school and of making 
her report to the Superintendent. 

Report of Principal to Superintendent 

It is required at the present time that the principals 
report, monthly, to the City Superintendent on truants and 
non-attendants referred to the attendance officers. The re- 
port includes the name, age, and grade of pupils; also, 
whether or not the child is a truant or merely a non- 
attendant, and the result of the investigation by the at- 
tendance officer. While these reports are sent regularly 
to the office of the City Superintendent, they are by no 
means filled out either tmiformly or completely. To the end 
that the principal's monthly report to the Superintendent 
on truants and non-attendants shall be made uniform, and 
that the data included therein shall be complete, we recom- 
mend the substitution of Form No. 6. 

Report of Attendance Officers to Superintendent 

All reports at present made by truant officers to the 
Superintendent are essentially verbal reports. To be sure, 
each attendance officer keeps memoranda of the cases 
handled by him, but, so far as we know, no formal reports 
are submitted by the attendance officers. 

Such formal reports are, however, required by law of 



REPORT ON ABSENCE 

PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, BUTTE, MONTANA 



AST NAME FIRST NAME 


SCHOOL 


GRADE 


SIGNATURE OF ATTEND- 
ANCE OFFICER 


ESIDENCE 






















REPORT OF PRINCIPAL 1 


REPORT OF ATTENDANCE OFFICER 


REPORT 


SESSIONS ABSENT 


DATE 

Received 


DATE 
FILED 


Absence 
Lawfal 


Absence 
Unlawful 


Date of Prob- 
able Return 


Date Com. to 


FROM 1 TO 1 


Ind. School 




MO. 


DAY 1 MO. 1 DAY 


Mo. 1 DAY 


MO. 


DAY 


MO. 


DAY 


MO. 1 Day 


1 






























2 






























3 


























1 


4 


























1 



USE CODE NUMBERS ON BACK OF THIS CARD DESIGNATED BY* 



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OR MONTH OF_ 



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SCHOOL.. 



PRiNCiPAL, 



^iNCIPAL 







I 

O— ABSENCE 
UNLAWFUI- 


Total No. 

Cases 

Investigatod 

A^-B — O 


Committed to 

Industrial 

School 




12 


13 


Tot. 


1 


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3 


Tot. 


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t 










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Abe 

1. ' 

2. ] 

3. ] 


ence Unlawful t 

rrnant Qhild. 
Parental neglect. 
[Uegally employed 







FOftM VII. 

MONTHLY REPORT OF ATTENDANCE OFFICER 
131 iRi m pri P-MP-MTARY SCHOOLS BUTTE. MONTANA 


FOR MONTH OF 




















CASES FOR INVESTIGATION 


REPORT OF ATTENDANCE OFFICER " 


SCHOOL 




BSCBITBI) 


[Pending at 
End of 
of Month 


A — ABSKNCB 
LAWFUL 


B— DROPPED PUPIL 


C— ABSENCE 
UNLAWFUL 


Total No. 

Case* 

Investiaratod 

A-B_0 


Committed to 
Industrial 




New 


Old 


Total 


1 


2 


3 


4 


5 


e 


Tot. 


1 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


la 


13 


Tot. 


1 


2 


3 




rot. 


School 


































































——==== 
















































































































p_ 









































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Absence Lawful: 

1. Illnees of child. 

2. Illness or death la fflmlly. 
S. Quarantined. 

4. Poverty. 

5. Court. 

6. Inclement weather. 
Dropped PnpU; 

1. Under compulsory school aee 

2. Incapacity (physical). 
2. Incapacity (mental). 



INTERPRETATION OF CODE NUMBERS IN COLUMNS' 

4. Indifference to school work. 

5. Left to go to a private school. 

6. Left to go to a parochial school. 

7. Removed from the city. 

8. Illness or death in family. 

9. Economic status of family (obtained employment certificate). 

10. Economic status of family (not obtaining employment certificate). 

11. Committed to the Industrial School. 

12. Kept at home for private tuition. 

13. Unknown. 



Absence Unlawful i 

1. Truant child. 



Parental neglect 
Illegally employed. 



PRJNCIPAUS MONTHLY REPORT ON ABSENT PUPILS 
PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS BUTTE, MONTANA 



FOR MONTH OF_ 



-19— 



SCHOOL. 











==^=1:3: 





























































PRINCIPAL. 




CASES FOR INVESTIGA" 


noN 


REPORT OF PRINCIPAL 


Name of PupU 


III 


REU]SlVXa> 


Pending: at 
End of 
Mouth 


A—ABSENCE 
LAWFUL 


1 

B— .DKOPPED PUPIL 


C— ABSENCE 
UNLAWFUL i 


Total No. 

Cases 

InvestiBatod 

A—B—O 


Committed to 

Indne^trial 

School 




New 


Old 


Total 


1 


a 


3 


4 


5 


6 


Tot. 


1 


2 




3 


4 


6 


6 


7 


8 





10 


11 


la 


13 


Tot. 


1 


a 


3 


Tot. 


Mo. 


DAT 
















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Total 


















= 










= 


































ll 







INTERPRETATION OF CODE NUMBERS IN COLUMNS 



Absence Lawful: 

1. Illness of child. 

2. Illuess or death in family. 

3. Quarantined. 

4. Poverty. 

5. Court. 

6. Inclement weather. 
Dropped PnpUi 

1. Under compulsory school age. 
i. Incapacity (physical). 
S. Incapacity (mental). 



10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 



Indifference to school work. 

Lieft to go to a private school. 

Left to go to a parochial school. 

Removed from the city. 

Illness or death in family. 

Economic status of family (obtained employment certificate). 

Economic status of family (not obtaining employment certificate) 

Committed to the Industrial School. 

Kept at home for private tuition. 

nnkoown. 



C. Absence Unlawful < 

1. Truant child. 

2. Parental neglect. 

3. Illegally employed. 



NA 


FOR MONTH OF.. _. 


19 


ATTCNDANCe OCPfCER 



ATTENDANCE 


OF 


FIC 


:ef 


I 






UPII. 


UNI.AWFUI. 


Total No. 

Cases 

Investigated 

A — ^B— O 


C<»mmltt0d Co 
Industrial 


© 


10 


11 


12 


13 


Tot. 


1 


2 


s 


Tot. 


.School 


— 1 






f 


























































■ 










■ 
















































































































































































































































JMNS* 



!ate) . 
ertificate) . 



C. Absence UnlaT^nls 

1. Truant child. 

2. Parental neglect. 

3. Illagally employed. 



Census, Records, and Reports 57 

attendance officers. To the end that systematic record may 
be available on the work of the attendance officers, more 
particularly that there may be at hand evidence of the 
effective v^ork now being done, we recommend the adoption 
of Form No. 7. 

NEED FOR MORE EFFECTIVE COOPERATION IN ATTENDANCE 

WORK 

In order to determine whether or not all the children 
of school age of Butte are in school, there is need of a com- 
plete census. To make this school census effective, it is 
necessary to have records of all children who are actually 
in school, and of current changes in school enrollment. At 
present, there are no reports made to the Board of Educa- 
tion with regard to the children enrolled in either private 
or parochial schools. It is incumbent by law. Section 11 04 
of the General School Law of the State of Montana, that 
the principals of these schools make such reports. That is, 
the principals of these schools should be requested to comply 
with this law, and to provide the clerk of the Board of 
Education with the same data on enrollment and changes 
herein, as are requested from the principals of public 
'schools, using in all cases the same blank forms in making 
said reports. 

If the children of Butte are to receive the education 
which they should receive, it is necessary to have an effective 
enforcement of the Compulsory Education Law. So far 
as the public schools are concerned, this law seemingly is 
well enforced. No facts are available with regard to its 
enforcement in private and parochial schools. If the Com- 
pulsory Education Law is to be enforced most effectively, 
the same records and reports on absence, truancy, etc., 
should be required of the principals of private and parochial 
schools as the commission recommends should be required 
of the principals of public schools. 

Since it is possible, under the law, to require such in- 



58 Problems in City School Administration 

formation of private and parochial schools, we feel that the 
information will be readily given, and that not only will this 
information be readily given, but when it is understood that 
the purpose of this information is to secure to every child 
of Butte the education to which he is entitled, all concerned 
will willingly cooperate to this end. 



ADVANTAGE OF SIMPLIFYING PRESENT SCHOOL RECORDS 

There is need, as we shall see in Chapter VI, of col- 
lecting additional information on the actual workings of 
the schools, if there is to be at hand an adequate fact basis 
for measuring the efficiency of the schools, and on which 
to base administrative action. On the other hand, certain 
of the present reports should be simplified, such, for exam- 
ple, as the teacher's monthly report and the principal's 
monthly report. The need of simplification is particularly 
evident in the case of determining the promotion average 
of pupils; also in the record scholarship card which is sent 
to parents monthly. Much of the detailed work involved 
in determining the promotion average of children and in 
making out the record scholarship card could be avoided, 
if the monthly record of the child for each of the several 
subjects should be regarded as cumulative. That is, if the 
scholarship mark given for the last month of the school 
term should be recognized as the teacher's estimate of the 
effort and achievement of the child for the school term, it 
could be substituted for the present promotion average, 
which is now determined at such a cost of energy and time 
on the part of teachers. 

SUMMARY 

To summarize: there is need, in the opinion of the 
Survey commission, of making the present school census 
more complete; this school census should then be made the 
basis of checking the number of children who are illegally 



Census, Records, and Reports 59 

absent from school, whether public, private, or parochial, 
and of enforcing the Compulsory Education Law. To this 
end, we believe that a school census as outlined above should 
be taken and that the above-suggested forms for reporting 
absence to attendance officers, the monthly report of prin- 
cipals on absence cases, and the monthly report of at- 
tendance officers be introduced. Should these recommenda- 
tions be put into effect, taking into consideration the present 
excellent service of teachers, principals, and attendance 
officers and the present excellent attitude of the community 
toward school attendance, there is no reason why children 
in Butte should be absent from school any considerable 
length of time without lawful reason. Moreover, if the 
above suggestions with regard to simplifying present re- 
ports are put into operation, teachers will be relieved of 
considerable unnecessary detail, whereas if the recom- 
mendations in Chapter VI with regard to data on school 
activities are adopted, there will be at hand not only in- 
formation which will supply the basis for improving meth- 
ods of instruction and of adapting the course of study to 
the needs of the children, but also of judging of the effi- 
ciency of instruction and of the work of the system as a 
whole. 



CHAPTER V 

FINANCE AND ACCOUNTS 

(i) Costs of the School System Compared with 
Those of Other Cities 

npHE members of the Survey commission have spent 
•*■ much time in trying to calculate and compare the costs 
for education in the Butte school district with costs for 
education in other cities where costs are comparable, but 
they have finally been compelled to abandon the attempt to 
make an accurate comparison, for the reason that accurate 
comparisons are not possible with the present system of 
accounting. 

DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED IN COMPARING COSTS 

In the first place the Butte school district (District 
No. i) is many times larger than the city proper, and the 
property valuation of the school district is about twice 
that of the city itself. The total population within the city 
is given by the United States Census for 1910, and also has 
been officially estimated for 191 1, but how many people 
live in the Butte school district the Survey commission were 
not able to ascertain. In the absence of such information 
the per capita cost for schools, based on the total population 
of the school district, could not be determined. On the 
basis of the expenditures for 1912-13, which were $380,- 
593.00, and an estimated total population in the school 
district of 75,000, the per capita cost, based on total popu- 
lation, would be approximately $5.07. 

In the absence of any population data, the commission 
have been compelled to use the figures given in the last 
printed volume of Financial Statistics of Cities, issued by 
the United States Bureau of the Census.^ This contains 

^Financial Statistics of Cities, 1911 (Washington, 1913). 
60 



Finance and Accounts 6i 

detailed statistical data as to the expenses of all cities in 
the United States. The census figures show a total ex- 
pense for 191 1 of $250,000 for education in Butte, and a 
per capita on total population cost of $5.42. The mem- 
bers of the Survey commission have conferred with the 
clerk of the Board of School Trustees, the county assessor, 
and the county treasurer, but have not been able to arrive 
at any better estimate, though they feel that the United 
States Census figures for Butte are too high, for the year 
taken. 

COMPARATIVE PER CAPITA COSTS 

Using, however, for purposes of comparison, the United 
States Census figures, even though they are manifestly too 
high, and comparing the cost for education here with the 
cost in the same twenty cities used in Table VI, Chapter 
VI, in comparing the percentages of children under 15 years 
of age in such cities with conditions in Butte, we get the 
table on page 62, which shows comparative costs in ten 
Western and ten Eastern cities. 

When the much higher costs for labor and materials in 
Butte, the materially lower pay for teachers in Eastern 
cities, and the much larger number of children to be edu- 
cated in the ten Eastern cities, as pointed out in Chapter VI, 
are all taken into consideration, even the high United States 
Census figures for Butte seem low. It must be said, how- 
ever, that of the cities selected for comparison with Butte, 
75 per cent, are noted for the high quality and large effi- 
ciency of their schools. It would, of course, have been 
possible to select cities for comparison with Butte which 
would have resulted in a more favorable showing. 

(2) Costs as Shown by the Present System of 
Accounting 

When the Survey commission turned from comparative 
costs to the cost of education in the schools within the dis- 



62 



Problems in City School Administration 



trict, much the same difficulty in obtaining any informa- 
tion that really told anything was encountered. 

TABLE IV 

Showing Comparative Costs for Education, Based on Total 
Population 



Cities 



Per 

Capita 
Cost for 
Schools 



Per Cent, of City 

Expenses for 

Schools 



Total 

Population 

of City 



Western Cities: 

Pueblo, Colo 

Tacoma, Wash 

Lincoln, Neb 

San Diego, Cal 

BUTTE, MONT. . . . 
Davenport, Iowa . . . . 

Topeka, Kansas 

Spokane, Wash 

Salt Lake City, Utah 
Des Moines, Iowa . . . 

Berkeley, Cal 

Eastern Cities: 

Fall River, Mass 

Scranton, Pa 

Hoboken, N.J 

BUTTE, MONT. . . 

Bavonne, N. J 

East Orange, N. J. . . 

Yonkers, N. Y 

Springfield, Mass. . . . 
New Rochelle, N. Y. 
Mt. Vernon, N. Y. . . 
Newton, Mass 



4-31 

5.20 

5-24 
5-41 
- 42 



4.06 
4-45 

5^42 
5.60 
6. IS 

6.35 
6.86 
7.04 

7.25 
8.67 



36.5 per cent. 
33.9 per cent. 
54. 2 per cent, 
32.9 per cent. 
31 . 8 per cent. 

39.6 per cent. 
47 . o per cent. 
38.0 per cent. 
47 . 2 per cent. 
49 . 8 per cent. 
54.0 per cent. 



34-4 
47.2 
390 
31.8 
48.1 
34-8 
32.9 
34-9 
37-5 
35-4 
35-8 



per cent, 
per cent. 
per cent. 
per cent, 
per cent, 
per cent, 
per cent. 
per cent. 
per cent. 
per cent. 
per cent. 



44,395 
83,743 
43,973 
39,578 
39,165 
43,028 
43,684 
104,402 

99,777 
86,368 

40,434 

119,295 
129,867 

70,324 
39.165 

55,545 
34,371 
79,803 
88,926 
28,867 

30,919 
30,806 



DEFICIENCIES OF THE FINANCIAL RECORDS 

Though the financial records in the office of the School 
Clerk are kept according to the forms outlined for school 
districts in the state of Montana, the records are not kept 
in the form which should be provided for a city of this 



Finance and Accounts 63 

size. The forms in use are suited to a country district or 
a village, rather than to a city such as Butte. 

From the records as kept, though they are kept very 
neatly, and apparently very accurately, little or nothing 
could be told, without much labor in recalculating the items 
throughout, as to what instruction, operation of plant, and 
plant-maintenance were actually costing per pupil or per 
room in the schools of Butte. Some tabulations made, in- 
dicated differences as large as $5.00 per year per pupil 
for instruction alone, in two of the schools. This may 
be all right or it may not, but the present methods of ac- 
counting do not tell anything as to existing conditions. 

These differences are only what might be expected 
here. As is pointed out in the chapter on the school plant 
(Chapter III), small buildings are much more expensive 
to operate than large ones, and the instruction in them is 
less efficient. If good cost figures were available there is 
little doubt that the Board of School Trustees would at 
once abandon the policy of erecting them. 

If figures were available it would doubtless be found 
that the per capita cost for education in such schools as 
the Brookside is twice as great as in such a school as the 
Emerson, with a much less efficient type of education pro- 
vided, and that the cost in such schools as the Madison or 
Harrison is twenty to thirty per cent, higher than in the 
larger city schools. The books at present show almost 
nothing as to the actual costs for instruction in the schools, 
or in different schools, and the Survey commission have 
been compelled to depend, in part, in making their recom- 
mendations for the reorganization of the building equip- 
ment of the district, on their knowledge of the financial 
experiences of other cities having somewhat similar con- 
ditions. No one in particular is to blame for the present 
condition, as the books are kept according to state forms 
and according to the plan which has been followed for 
many years. 



64 Problems in City School Administration 



RECOMMENDATIONS 

The Survey commission strongly recommend that the 
School Clerk be instructed to prepare a new form of cost- 
record book, using the standards for accounting approved 
by the United States Bureau of Education and the United 
States Bureau of the Census, and that he then reorganize 
his methods of cost accounting so that each item of ex- 
penditure will be distributed, in its proper place and proper 
proportion, among the different schools and administrative 
offices of the district. We herewith append a form (Form 
8) showing the kind of bookkeeping which the commis- 
sion recommends. 

With such a system of bookkeeping it would, at any 
time, be possible to determine the per-pupil cost for in- 
struction, the per-room cost for any form of service or 
supply, or the per-building cost for any item of maintenance 
or upkeep, and to check wastes wherever they may be 
found. The Survey commission have been led to feel 
that there are many small wastes in the school system 
which could be remedied, to the advantage of the schools, 
if only a good accounting system were in use from which 
the School Clerk or the Superintendent of Schools, or the 
two acting in cooperation, could from time to time check up 
the different cost items for the different schools. If such 
figures were available, to mention one item to illustrate 
the value of such accounting, the Survey commission have 
no doubt that the present practice of building small schools, 
near together, would be at once discontinued, because of 
the greater cost for instruction and maintenance which 
would be shown by such a system of accounting. 

The Survey commission wish to add that they have 
gone over the matter in some detail with the School Clerk, 
and have pointed out to him the value of such a system of 
bookkeeping and standard-form accounting, and that he is 
both willing and anxious to reorganize the books according 
to the standard forms and individual school-record plans 
suggested to him, and as shown by Form 8. 



PART II 
The Instructional Problem 



CHAPTER VI 

THE CLASSIFICATION AND PROGRESS OF 
PUPILS 

npHE population of the city of Butte, as given in the 
■*■ census of 1910, was 39,165. School District No. i, 
comprising a larger area than the city, has a population 
estimated at from 70,000 to 75,000. While there are no 
available data on the character of the population of District 
No. I, this probably differs little in character from the 
population of the city. 

CHARACTER OF THE POPULATION OF BUTTE 

The population of the city of Butte is characterized 
by the large percentage of native born with one or both 
parents foreign born, by the large percentage of foreign 
born, by the small percentage of school children in pro- 
portion to the population, by the large percentage of active 
adult population between 25 and 40, and by the small per- 
centage of mature citizens 65 years of age and older. 

Table V (page 68) shows the composition of the popu- 
lation of certain Western cities, chosen for comparison 
with Butte. The particular character of the population is 
made clearer by Figure 9 (page 69). 

Seventy per cent, of the population of Butte, it will 
be observed, is of direct foreign descent or foreign born. 
An analysis of this foreign element shows that it is, on 
the whole, of the very highest type, coming primarily from 
northern and western Europe. Nevertheless, the presence 
in the city of so many of foreign descent and birth makes 
the work of the schools especially difficult, and makes 

^1 



68 



Problems hi City School Administration 



TABLE V 
Composition of Population 





^ o 

as 

O <D 


Per Cent, of the Whole 
Who Are 




City 


Esi 

cj 


Native Born 
with One or 
Both Parents 
Foreign Bom 


c 

pq 

a 




M 

^ 


BUTTE, MONT 

San Diego, Cal 

Berkeley, Cal. 


39,165 
39,578 
40,434 
43,028 
43,684 
43,973 

44,696 
47,828 

83,743 
104,402 


28.5 

57-0 
48.2 
41. 1 
63.6 
59-2 
55-4 
44-3 
46.8 
43.6 
52.3 


37.3 

21.0 
29.2 
38.7 
16.4 
22.7 
22.0 
29.1 
30.6 
28.5 
26.1 


32.9 

18.0 
18.9 
18.8 

16.4 
18.8 
19.9 
21.9 
25.6 
23.0 


.6 

1-5 
6 


Davenport, Iowa 

Topeka, Kan 


1-3 

10.4 

1-7 
3-4 
I . I 
0.6 
0.9 
0.7 


Lincoln, Neb 


Pueblo, Colo 


Sacramento, Cal 

Sioux City, Iowa 

Tacoma, Wash 

Spokane, Wash 



necessary certain adjustments in the school system to meet 
the particular educational needs of this portion of the 
population. The needed readjustments in courses of study, 
and needed provisions for special kinds of classes and 
schools, will be pointed out in the subsequent chapters of 
this report. 

While the number of children of school age in Butte 
compares favorably w^ith other Western cities, the number 
is materially smaller than in Eastern cities of similar size. 
Table VI compares Butte with ten selected Western and 
ten selected Eastern cities, in the matter of children under 
15 years of age. 

Figure 10 (page 71) compares the age distribution of 
the population of Butte with the age distribution of the 
United States as a whole. 

Table VI (page 70) shows that the predominant age in 
Butte is between 25 and 44. Its adult population is, there- 



Classification and Progress of Pupils 



69 



NATIVE BORN 

ONE OR BOTH PARENTS FOREIGN 

37.3 



NATIVE 


BORN WHITE 


) 






'i 


28.5 




j --ii--:^:i£jcHTN7srTr 


1 






/TOREIGN BORNy 
/ WHITE 33.1 y^ 


/-.^^^ GERMANS AND~7| 
^'^^^^USTRIANS 4.6 / 




/ 


Tn 




N. FR.& ENG. ^^-^Z 
N. CANADIANS / 
\ 5.1 / 






f 


IRISH 8.2 


ENGLISH \^ / 
SCOTCH & N/ 
\ WELSH / 

v., / 





<*r ir-/ < 



Fig. 9. Composition of the Population of Butte 



fore, at the age of greatest strength and aggressiveness. 
It will, however, be noted on the other hand that but 15.1 
per cent, of the population is between 5 and 14 years of 
age, as compared to 17.4 per cent, for the country as a 
whole. This relatively small proportion of children of 
school age, when compared with Eastern cities and when 
compared with the country as a whole, should enable Butte 
to provide much better educational advantages for its chil- 
dren than can be provided by the average city, particularly 
of the East. 



70 Problems in City School Administration 

TABLE VI 
Percentage of Children to Population 



City 


Total 

Population, 

1910 


Per Cent, of Children 


5-14 


c^i5 


I. Western Cities: 

Spokane, Wash. ^ 


104,402 
39,578 
40,434 
39,165 

83,743 
43,973 
43,684 
44,395 
86,368 
43,028 
92,777 


13.0 

13-4 
14.7 
15.1 

15 -2 

15-3 

16.4 
16.6 
16.7 
18.5 


23.2 
20 


San Diego, Cal. ^ 


Berkeley, Cal. ^ 


22 8 


BUTTE, MONT 


23.9 


Tacoma, Wash 


23.6 

25.2 

23.9 
26.2 


Lincoln, Neb 


Topeka, Kan.^ 


Pueblo, Colo. 


Des Moines, lowa^ 


25.6 

25-1 

29.6 


Davenport, lowa^ 


Salt Lake City, Utahi 




2. Eastern Cities: 

East Orange, N.J 


mil 

88,926 

39,806 

129,867 

119,295 
28,867 

79,803 
70,324 
30,919 
55,545 


18. 1 
18.2 
18.9 
18.9 
19. 1 
21.6 
21.7 


23.1 
23.9 


BUTTE, MONT 


Springfield, Mass.* 


25-3 
25-4 
32.0 

32.3 
29.7 
29.9 
29.2 
31-6 
33.6 


Newton, Mass. * 

Scranton, Pa 


Fall River, Mass 

NewRochelle, N. Y.i 

Yonkers, N. Y. ^ 


Hoboken, N. J 


Mt. Vernon, N.Y.i 

Bayonne, N. J. * 





The city of Butte, or School District No. i, is, there- 
fore, called upon to develop a system of schools adapted 
to the needs of a population predominantly foreign, and 
engaged in skilled and manual occupations. By reason, 
however, of the active and aggressive character of its adult 
population, and the relatively small number of children 
of school age, the city of Butte should be able, v^ithout 
great financial burden, to provide the very best educational 
opportunities for the children of the city, and for all adults 
desirous of continuing their education. 

*A11 these cities spend more for schools, per capita of the total popu- 
lation, than does Butte. See Table IV, Chapter V. 



Classification and Progress of Pupils 



71 



UNITED STATES AGES BUTTE 

UNDER5YRS. 

5 TO 14 

15 TO 24 

25 TO 44 

45 TO 64 





17.4 
20.1 


9.9% 


•mm 








WM 


w/m 










WM 


w/m 








^^■^W/, 


WM 


WM 


WM 




15 








■^W 


W/M 






4.0^ 



8.8% 



15 



13.0 



65 AND OVER ^ 1.6 
10 O PER CENT.O 10 



.1 
17.8 



43.7 



30 20 10 O PER CENT.O 10 20 30 40 

Fig. 10. Age Distribution of Total Population 

SCHOOL POPULATION OF DISTRICT NO. I (sCHOOL CENSUS, 

I913) 

The school census of 19 13 for District No. i gave the 
number of children and youth as follows: 

Under 6 years of age 6,155 

Between 6 and 8 years 2,019 

Between 8 and 14 years 5,330 

Between 14 and 16 years 1,418 

Between 16 and 21 years 3,082 

Total (all children under 21 years) 18,004 

While there are, according to the school census of 
19 1 3, 18,004 children and adults under 21 years of age 
in the district, there is no reason to expect that this entire 
number will be found in school. The legal age of en- 
trance to the public schools is 6; the Compulsory Educa- 
tion Law, however, is operative only after children become 
8 years of age, and they cannot be held in school after 
becoming 16 years of age. There are, however, reasons 
to expect that practically all children between 6 and 14 
will be in school, also a large majority of those between 
14 and 16, and a considerable part of those between 16 
and 21. 

The enrollment in the Butte public schools in the first 
semester of the school year 1913-14 was as follows: 



72 Problems in City School Administration 

TABLE VII 
Public School Enrollment versus School Census 



Ages 


Public 
Schools! 


School 
Census 


Per Cent. 

in PubHc 

Schools 


Between 6 and 8 . 


1,619 
3,996 

643 
55 

727 


2,019 
5»330 
1,418 

3,082 


79.40 

75.00 

45.00 

1.80 


Between 8 and 14 

Between 14 and 16 

Between 16 and 21 


Enrolled in High School 




Total 


7,040 


11,849 


59.60 





Neither are the data on the enrollment in the public 
schools of Butte sufficiently complete (the age distribution 
of the enrollment in the high school being lacking), nor 
are the data of the school census sufficiently differentiated 
with respect to age, to make possible a complete com- 
parison between school enrollment and school census. Such 
a comparison should, however, be possible, and should be 
made each year in order to determine to what extent the 
public schools are reaching all of the children of school age 
of the city, and at what point or points the public schools 
break down. The necessity of so modifying the school 
census, and of collecting the needed data on school en- 
rollment in order that such comparisons can be made, are 
treated in Chapter IV. 

Comparison, however, can be made with the data at 
hand between the enrollment and school census in the case 
of two age-groups; that is, between the enrollment and 
census for children between 6 and 8, and between 8 and 
14. It will be observed that of the 2,019 children reported 
in the census as between 6 and 8, 1,619, or 79.4 per cent., 
were enrolled in the public schools, and that of the 5,330 
children reported in the census between 8 and 14, 3,996, 
or 75 per cent., also were enrolled in the public schools. 
* Exclusive of 22 under 6. 



Classification and Progress of Pupils 73 

The practical question, from this point of view, is, where 
were the remaining 20.6 per cent, of children between 6 
and 8 years of age, and the remaining 25 per cent, between 
8 and 14? To be sure, a large proportion of such children 
were doubtless enrolled in either parochial or private 
schools. There are, however, no available facts at hand 
to show the number of such children so enrolled. All that 
is known is that the public schools of Butte are reaching 
from 75 to 79 per cent, of the children of the city between 
6 and 14, and a certain number of children of other ages. 
So long, therefore, as private and parochial schools are not 
required to report to the clerk of the Board of School 
Trustees, as is required by law (see Section 1104 of the 
General School Law of the State of Montana), and data 
are not collected by ages on the enrollment in the public 
elementary and the public high school, so long will It be im- 
possible to determine whether or not all the schools of 
Butte combined, public, private, and parochial, are reaching 
all the children of school age of the community. 

THE HOLDING POWER OF THE BUTTE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 

An efficient system of public schools not only attracts 
or reaches all the children of the community, but also holds 
them either until they are no longer subject to the Com- 
pulsory Education Law, or until they have completed either 
the elementary school course of study or the course of 
study of both the elementary and high school. 

While each separate school keeps fairly complete and 
accurate records of all pupils entering and of all pupils 
dropping out, these records have never been systematized 
and collected for the system as a whole to show to what 
extent and how long children are held in the schools. 
Effort has lately been put forth to this end, in the adoption 
of an "Admission, Discharge, and Promotion Card." This 
IS an excellent movement and is to be highly commended. 
If these records are carefully kept, and the data thereon 



74 * Problems in City School Administration 



tabulated, there will soon be at hand means of judging of 
the holding power of the Butte public schools. 

Despite the absence, until recently, of systematic 
records, we have collected data which show that con- 
siderable numbers of children drop from the public schools 
during the course of a term ; also data which tend to show 
that the holding power of the Butte public schools is rea- 
sonably good. Table VIII shows the number of children 
dropped from the elementary schools during the first 
semester of the school year 1913-14: 

TABLE VIII 
Children Dropped from Elementary Schools 



Year 


II 


Going to Private 
or Parochial 
Schools 


1 


11 


1 


Per Cent, of 

Enrollment 

Dropped 


Eighth 

Seventh .... 

Sixth 

Fifth 

Fourth 

Third 

Second 

First 


397 
547 

703 
782 

847 

921 

868 

1259 


6 

8 

9 

9 

13 

14 

II 

15 


10 
18 

35 
29 

54 
47 
50 
57 


29 
21 

25 
20 
12 
19 
13 
56 


45 
47 
69 
58 
79 
80 

74 
128 


II 

8 
9 
7 
9 

10 
8 

10 


I 

8 
4 

I 

5 
2 


Total... 


6324 


85 


300 


195 


580 


9.2 



Five hundred and eighty children were dropped from 
the elementary school, it will be noted, during the first 
semester of the school year 191 3-14, out of a total enroll- 
ment of 6,324; that is, almost one pupil out of each ten 
enrolled left before the end of the first semester. To be 
sure, the public schools are not to be held responsible for 
pupils leaving, by reason of parental preference for private 
or parochial schools, or for pupils leaving when parents 
move from the city, or when pupils are continuously absent 



Classification and Progress of Pupils 



75 



for lawful reasons. School authorities are, however, re- 
sponsible for seeing that when a child leaves for a parochial 
or private school, he actually enters such school ; responsible 
for seeing that when a child reports his parents as moving 
from the city, this is actually the case; and responsible 
for seeing that all cases of continuous absence are lawful. 
It should, however, be said that teachers, principals, and 
attendance officers are giving much attention to such cases ; 
yet, as will be pointed out in connection with our discus- 
sion of the enforcement of the Compulsory Education 
Law, there is considerable to be desired with respect to 
the method of reporting, investigating, and recording the 
results of investigating such cases, to the end that no child 
shall drop from school without lawful reasons. 

Notwithstanding children for various reasons drop from 
the public schools of Butte, the data presented in Table 
IX indicate that the holding power of the schools is rea- 
sonably good: 

TABLE IX 

Age Distribution of Children in Elementary Schools 



Age 



Number 

Enrolled 

of Each Age 



Per Cent. 

of Total 

Enrollment 

of 
Each Age 



Under 6 . . 

6 to 7 . . 

7 to 8 . . 

8 to 9 . . 

9 to ID. . 
loto II. . 

11 to 12. . 

12 to 13. . 

13 to 14. . 

14 to 15. . 

15 to 16. . 

16 to 17. . 

17 to 18. . 

18 to 19. . 

Total 



22 
912 
707 
702 
726 
642 
662 
671 
593 
41S 
228 

44 
9 

2 



6,337 



0.03 
14.40 
II .20 
II. 10 

11.50 
10.30 



50 
60 



40 

60 

60 

0.06 

o.oi 

0.005 



99-305 



yd Problems in City School Administration 

These several age-groups, at least from 6 to 7 up to 
13 to 14, should be essentially equal, the younger age- 
groups, due to growth in population, being somewhat larger 
than the older. The preponderating number of pupils re- 
ported between 6 to 7 is in all probability due to the fact 
that pupils, in considerable numbers, are actually entering 
school who, while giving their age as between 6 and 7, 
are really under 6. Beginning with the group between 
7 to 8, it will be noted that there is but slight difference, 
from group to group, until we come to the group 13 to 14. 
On becoming 14 years of age, children who wish to do so, 
and who can qualify for the examination for an employ- 
ment certificate, drop from school, as do those who com- 
plete the course. These two factors account, therefore, at 
least in part, for the decreasing number in the age-groups 
after 13 to 14. 

The uniformity in the number in each of the several 
age-groups up to the group 13 to 14 may thus be taken 
to indicate that the holding power of the public schools 
is reasonably good. But, as suggested above, just what 
their holding power is cannot be determined with exact- 
ness until there is a decided change in the reports of the 
schools concerning the enrollment and discharge of pupils. 

THE PROGRESS OF CHILDREN IN SCHOOL 

The elementary-school course of study is, in theory, 
eight years in length, and the high-school course four 
years. A child entering the elementary school at 6 years 
of age should complete the elementary school in eight years, 
or by the time he is 14 years old; similarly, a child enter- 
ing at 7 should be graduated at 15. Hence, if the age of a 
child and the grade he has completed or is beginning Is 
known, It Is possible to tell how far ahead or how far be- 
hind the course he is for his age. 

It is commonly agreed that the very latest normal age 
for completing the elementary school is up to 15. Children 



Classification and Progress of Pupils 



77 



completing the elementary course older than this are called 
over-age, or behind their grade. In order, therefore, that 
children progressing, regularly, through the grades may 
complete the elementary school by the time they are 15, it 
is necessary for them to enter or begin the work of each 
of the several grades within the following age limits: 



Grade 


Normal Age 

Limit 
for Entering 


Normal Age 

Limit 

for Completing 


I B 


6 up to 7 
63^2 up to 732 

7 up to 8 
73^ up to 83^2 

8 up to 9 
83^ up to 93^2 

9 up to 10 
9/^ up to io3^ 

10 up to II 
io3^up to ii}4 

11 up to 1 2 
ii3^up to 123^ 

12 up to 1 3 
123^ up to 13^ 

13 up to 14 
133^ up to 143^ 


63^ up to 73^ 

7 up to 8 
73^ up to 83^ 

8 up to 9 
83^ up to gVz 

9 up to 10 
93^ up to io3^ 

10 up to II 

io3^ up to 1 1 3^ 

11 up to 12 

ii3^up to 123^ 

12 Up to 13 

I2>^UptO 133^ 

13 Up to 14 
133^ up to 143^ 

14 up to 15 


I A 


2 B 


2 A 


<{ B 


J -r 

7 A 


Ib : .... 


1a 


cB . 


5 A 


6B 


6 A 


7 B 


7 A 


SB 


8 A 





If, then, the ages of all the children enrolled in the 
public schools of Butte during the first semester of the 
school year 191 3-14 are taken as of September i, and the 
above-normal age limits for entering each of the grades 
is taken as the basis of classification, the number of chil- 
dren in each grade under age, that is, ahead of their grade, 
the number of normal age, that is, up to grade, and the 
number over-age, that is, behind their grade, is easily deter- 
mined. 

AMOUNT OF OVER-AGE 

Table X gives the number of children in each of the 
several grades of the public schools of Butte, from under 



J9;S9UI9S 
^U9UJ|tOJ 

-ua ib;ox 


00 00 00 vo r^ »>^vo -^^ vo « 00 ■* 

0^00 "100 -^ -xt- -"il- 'it-OO ro M i-i "-I ii-1 
00 touoc«^Lr>r<%-*c<^'«(t-cotorot«^M e* 1-* 


to 

CO 


61-H8I 


*^ 


•^ 


K8I- 81 


"^ 


"^ 


81-^^1 


"* — -> 


CO 


^Zi- /I 


M ►H 1-1 « M 


NO 


Zi-^91 


•-I MM M C4 Cn 


On 


^91- 91 


•1 


CO 


91-HS1 


M H4 C< 1-4 




00 


^Si- Si 


t>» _■ « roioLDM Tt-aNa\»->oo 


On 

CO 


Si-^ti 


►H M ►-. CO CO t^ CO 


O^ 


^ti- ti 


M CO CO •^ CO coC*4 


c< 


ti-^ei 


« w t^crit^OO <S LOOO CN tooo 00 
►H CO CO M -^ coco CsJ 


00 


^ei- £1 


'^ "^^z^^^n.^^^^^ 


CO 


£i-H^i 


*■* i-iCOl^OOOOOUor4>-.iO(M>-i 

M M CO CO ■^ i-r)?0 CO r< 


CO 


H^i- zi 


M M CO -^l- -rj- UOTj( Tf »- 


tv 

CO 


zi-Kii 


COM r« coMOO -^NIOO toc< 


HI 
CO 


^11- II 


M covo vo >-■ CO 'ii-Tt ^ "^ 
r» M ■<♦• u^ t^iO UD M 


00 
CO 


II-^OI 


•-• N •^ O^ 00 t^T-H 10 tv •^ C< 

M M CO M cot- Tj< M 


c« 


^01- 01 


c« t-i t^ C> M 10 »^t- «£> CO CO •-• 
c< vo u-» 0^«0 U5 « 


00 
CO 


oi-S/^6 


M u-iso 00 r^ coco (N Lo^ 
M M\0 vOO> -^ w 


tv 

CO 


H6- 6 


vo 0^ ^ votH 0^ CO t-" 
M vo c< 00 10 N "H 


CO 


6-K8 


00 00 ON 'tiiO Oi ^> •-• 
M VO t^r-l U3 CO 


CO 


H8 - 8 


10 I^Tj< 05 ■* U-) c< 
M CO 1^00 00 M 


c» 

CO 


8-H^ 


00 vO(N CX) "^ -xl- 
to t^Olrt to 


CO 
CO 


HZ- z 


LOOOCO t^ -1 
Ot-h CO r» M 


■«*■ 

ON 
CO 


Z-H9 




to 


^9- 9 


tv 


00 

10 


9 -isp^n 




N 
N 


-1 



MMNMcoroTj'-^Hi^ irjvo vo 1^ tvoo 00 





7S 



Classification and Progress of Pupils 



79 



6 up to 1 81/^ to 19. In each grade, the numbers in the 
columns to the left of the heavy black-faced figures indicate 
the children ahead of their grade, the numbers set in heavy- 
faced black type indicate the children up to grade, and the 
numbers in the columns to the right of the heavy black- 
faced figures indicate the children behind their grade. 

Table XI shows more clearly than Table X the number 
of children in each grade in the elementary schools of Butte 
under age, normal age, and over age: 

TABLE XI 

Number and Per Cent, of Children Under Age, Normal Age, and 

Over Age 



Grade 



Under Age 






Normal Age 






Over Age 



0) 



T3 

I 



I B 

1 A 

2 B 

2 A 

3B 

3 A 

4B 

4A 

SB 

5 A 

6B 

6 A 

7B 

7 A 

8 B 

8 A 

All grades 



22 

30 
82 
29 

47 
28 

35 
27 

35 
21 
20 
21 
19 
13 
30 
9 



699 
216 

235 
142 
204 
140 

152 
109 
127 

99 
105 

88 
106 

65 
68 
48 



78.3 
55-7 
46.3 
36.4 
36.7 
36.2 



34 

31 

28 

28 

27 

26 

32.3 

30-4 

32.4 

30.2 



177 
142 
191 
219 

305 
219 
258 
210 
282 
226 
261 
223 
203 
136 
112 
102 



19.7 
36.6 

37-5 
56.2 

54-9 
56.6 
58.0 
60.7 
63.6 

65-3 
67.6 
67.2 
61.9 
63.6 

64.1 



468 



7-4 



2,603 



41. 1 



3,266 



Si-o 



898 
388 
508 
390 
556 
387 
44S 
346 
444 
346 
386 

332 
328 
214 
210 
159 



6,337 



It is astonishing to find that, of the total number of 
different pupils in the elementary schools during the first 



8o Problems in City School Administration 

semester of the current school year, only 468 were ahead 
of their grade, as compared to 3,266 who were behind. In 
a word, taking the enrollment as a whole, out of each 100 
children : 

8 are ahead of their grade, 

41 are up to grade, and 

51 are behind their grade. 

Conditions are the worst in the 6 B grade, where out 
of each 100 children: 

5 are ahead of their grade, 
27 are up to grade, and 
68 are behind their grade. 

While conditions are the worst in the 6 B, even In all 
the other grades, with the exception of the i B, the per cent, 
of over-age children is extraordinarily high, ranging from 
36.6 per cent, to 67.2 per cent. 

The conditions shown to exist in Tables X and XI are 
shown even better in Figure 11, on the opposite page. 

DEGREE OF OVER-AGE 

The seriousness of children becoming over-age depends 
on the grade they are in, and on how far they have fallen 
behind their grade. Table XII (page 82) shows, by 
grades, the number of children over-age a given number of 
years. 

It win be observed that of the 3,266 children over-age 

1,790 are less than i year behind their grade, 
891 are i and less than 2 years behind their grade, 
386 are 2 and less than 3 years behind their grade, 
199 are 3 years or more behind their grade. 

The significance of these children being behind their 
grade lies in the fact that if the 1,790 less than i year over- 
age continue in school and advance regularly they will be 
between 15 and 16 on completing the elementary school; 



Classification and Progress of Pupils 



8i 



PERCENTAGES OF PUPILS WHO ARE 
UNDER AGE , OF NORMAL AGE . AND OVER AGE 



GRADE 



UNDER 


NORMAL 




OVER 


B ^ 








tM^^MI 


aW/A 






iwmM 


MMMi 












B mwM 






tMM^ 


^\W^ 












aWM 






kmm^ 


m^w^^ 












B WA 






t!M\^^ 


xWmWI 












A WM 






(mM«^ 


MM^ 












e WM 






IM1« 


MM»1 


aWA 




\WmW\^ 


m\\\w^ 


Mm^;^^ 












B V/M 


^^ 


eMM 


««^ 


MM«I 


aW/A 


^^ 


MMm 


MMm 


MM\W1 












B m 


» 


«MM 


\^M^ 


PM^ 


aWA 


fm 


«\m^ 


\\mm\^ 


mMM^ 












^M 


f^ 


\m%m^ 


MMM 


$^»M^ 


aV/A 


Ix^ 


M\W^\^ 


k\i\\\\\\\\\\; 


mwwwj 












B W///M 




tMx^ 


^^^mm 


m%wi 


aWA 


K^ 


m\\\mN 


^wmw 


m\m^ 



PER CENT. 



20 




40 



60 



80 



100 



TOTAL , ALL GRADES *. 
UNDER AGE 7.4 

OF NORMAL AGE 41.1 
OVER AGE 51,0 



Fig. 11. Age Distribution by Grades 



82 



Problems in City School Administration 





3 
e2 


00 00 00 o vo t^ t^vo -^vo vo N 00 ■* o o 
ooo o o Looo M- •* -^ -^co t<^ N »-■ i-i in 
00 c<^Lr»toLorOT*.t«iTl-c^t^rr^c<^«S» N h. 


ro 
to 


1 

1 

> 

o 


Total 

over 

Normal 

Age 




to 


II 


N «o O H <-• 00 -^hOO r^>MVO H-toro>-i O 
lMi-ic«i-ic4i-iC4Mr4M 




2 Years 

and Less 

than 3 


C* P< M t<^ rh to -^ to t«^ to H4 


00 

to 


I Year 

and Less 
than 2 


I-* d M LO t^ VOOO VOOOVOOOVO tN.Lr)T*-N 


00 


b 
P 


toVO VO O NOO w^OOOVOOO MVO io»-« O 


o 


Of 

Normal 
Age 


Ovvo mN -^hO N 0^^-»0^ t^^oo vo moo oo 
OM-i to'^O -*"^0 W OnOOO O^vO -* 


to 


to 
< 

u 

i 


Total 

Under 

Age 


N O N O t^oo ir^b^u^w O «-■ OtoO Os 


^ 
'<*• 


^53 


f» O t* OvVO 00u^iyiu-)C>O O t^toO Ov 
C< tOOO M-»*"C«tor<tr>»-«t*«Si->»-itO 




I Year 
and 
More 


•-I « r« iH t« 


00 




1 




3 










MM(^f<«OtO'<l-'^U^ W1VO ^ t^ 1^00 00 



Classification and Progress of Pupils 83 

PERCENTAGES OF 3,266 OVER-AGE PUPILS WHO 
ARE BEHIND THEIR GRADES 

LESS THAN r YEAR 1-2 2-3 3-UP 

54.6 27.6 11.1 6.0 



PER CENTO 20 40 60 80 100 

Fig. 12. Percentages of Pupils One or More Years behind Their 

Grades 

the 891 who are i year and less than 2 years over-age 
will be between 16 and 17; the 386 who are 2 years and 
less than 3 years over-age will be between 17 and 18; while 
the 199 who are 3 years or more over-age will be between 
18 and 19. As a matter of fact, in all probability the ma- 
jority of these children will never complete the elementary 
school, but will drop out somewhere in the 6 B or higher 
grades. 

SIGNIFICANCE OF OVER-AGE 

The significance of over-age does not lie entirely in 
the fact that these children will probably leave the elemen- 
tary school before completing the course, but lies more 
particularly in the fact that, while they do remain in school, 
the instruction received will not be adapted to their abilities. 
Hence such children, on the one hand, do not receive the 
full benefits from the instruction given them; on the other 
hand, being thus improperly classified, they are a burden to 
the teacher, and prevent her from giving the proper atten- 
tion to the other members of the class in which these over- 
age children are to be found. In a word, it is impossible 
for a teacher to do good work in a 4 B class, if along with 
the 4 B children of normal age, that is, children from 9 to 
ID, there are children 13, 14, 15, and even 18 years old. 
Hence, over-age is not only significant for the children who 
themselves are over-age, but over-age becomes significant 
for all members of the school. 

Moreover, over-age in the elementary school not only 



84 



Problems in City School Administration 



affects the work of the school, but affects the number of 
children going to high school and the number remaining 
to complete the high-school course. Were data at hand 
it could be clearly shown that a smaller per cent, of over- 
age children go to high school than of normal or under 
normal age. Table XIII gives the age of the children 
entering the high school during 19 13- 14: 

TABLE XIII 
Age of Entrance to High School — School Year 1913-14 



IIH 


12 


123^ 


13 


i^Vz 


.4 


143^ 


IS 


isH 


16 


16K 


17 


171^18 


to 


to 


to 


to 


to 


to 


to 


to 


to 


to 


to 


to 


to 


to 


12 


123^ 


13 


I3H 


14 


143^ 


IS 


is3^ 


16 


i6y2 


17 


17^ 


18 


i83^ 


I 


— 


I 


3 


19 


36 


44 


41 


43 


26 


17 


6 


6 


I 



Total entering, 244 

Total entering Under Age, 104 



Total of Normal Age, 41 
Total entering Over Age, 99 



If 15 to i^Yz is taken as the normal age of entrance, it 
will be observed that of the 244 pupils entering the high 
school, 104 entered under age, 41 were of normal age, and 
99 were over-age. There can be little question that a con- 
siderable portion of these 99 pupils, particularly those that 
are i to 2 years over-age, will drop from the high school 
before completing the course. Hence, were children gradu- 
ated from the elementary school earlier, there is little doubt 
that they would enter the high school in greater numbers, 
and that greater numbers would remain to complete the 
course. 

CAUSE OF OVER-AGE 

Why are 50 per cent, of the children in the elementary 
schools of Butte over-age? Over-age may be due to two 
main factors: (a) either to late entrance to school, or (b) 
to failure to progress regularly after entrance to school, 
or (c) to both late entrance and failure to progress regu- 
larly. 



Classification and Progress of Pupils 85 

The facts at hand indicate that over-age in the ele- 
mentary schools of Butte is not due to late entrance to 
school. This is revealed by the fact that in the i B grade 
only 19.7 per cent, of the children are over-age, v^hereas 
78.3 per cent., despite the extraordinarily high per cent, of 
non-promotion (see Table XIV), are of normal age and 
2.4 per cent, are under age (see Table XI). Indeed, the 
distribution by ages (see Table X) indicates that children 
in large numbers are entering school even before they are 
6 years of age, which tends to reduce rather than to aug- 
ment over-age. In a word, over-age in the elementary 
schools of Butte is due to failure to progress regularly after 
entrance; that is, to the conditions found in the schools 
themselves. 



SPECIAL CLASSES FOR BACKWARD CHILDREN 

What, then, should be done in order that children in 
greater numbers may be able to progress regularly through 
the schools ? Butte is not the only city in the country which 
has faced this problem. While the solution found differs 
from place to place, the principal means adopted are essen- 
tially the same everywhere; namely, the establishment of 
special types of classes. 

There are in the elementary schools of Butte 199 chil- 
dren scattered from the i B to the 8 B grade who are 3 
years and more behind their grade. In the state of New 
Jersey there is a law which makes it compulsory on boards 
of education to form special classes for all children three 
years or more over-age. Classes for such children are 
small, the number enrolled not exceeding 15 to 20 pupils. 
Children 3 years and more over-age will, as a rule, be 
found to be mentally defective. It would seem wise, there- 
fore, that at least an examination be made of this entire 
group of over-age children, and, for those found to be de- 
fective, that special ungraded classes be formed. There 
would probably be need for from 6 to 10 such classes here. 



86 Problems in City School Administration 

For children less than 3 and more than i year over-age, 
of which there are in Butte 1,277 scattered throughout 
all the different grades, there have been established, in all 
progressive cities, what are known as classes or schools for 
backward children. Where such backward classes have 
been established there is generally one such class in each 
school, and into this class are brought all children 2 or 
more years over-age. The purposes of such classes are 
twofold. First, for the younger children, the object of 
such a class is so to instruct them that they may make up 
the major portion of lost time, and ultimately graduate 
from the regular course. Second, for the older children, 
who still are in the lower grades, the purpose of such a 
class is so to modify the course of study that these chil- 
dren may receive the kind of instruction which will later 
be most useful to them. No effort is made to return these 
pupils to regular classes, for experience has shown that they 
seldom, if ever, remain to complete the regular course. 

The preferable method of caring for backward chil- 
dren, however, is to bring all such children into one central 
school. This makes possible a better classification and 
graduation, and a better modification of instruction to the 
particular needs of given groups of children. Such a cen- 
tral school has the same twofold aim as the single class. 

Whether the school authorities of Butte decide to estab- 
lish classes in the several schools, or to organize one central 
school, it would seem that there would be need in the city 
for not less than 12 to 15 such classes. 

While it is not serious for children to be less than i 
year over-age, or even more than a year over-age, pro- 
viding they are still in the lower grades, it, however, be- 
comes serious for children in the upper grades. Among 
this group of children — namely, children less than i year 
and over i and less than 2 years over-age, of which there 
are over 2,500 in Butte, — there are probably individual 
cases which should have the advantage of the special at- 
tention to be received in a class or school for backward 



Classification and Progress of Pupils 87 

children. Many of these children, however, have the 
ability, providing opportunities were offered, to do more 
than the regular work in the course. For such children 
there have been established, in all progressive cities, what 
is known as "rapid advancement classes." A number of 
such classes should be established in the schools of Butte. 
From the facts at hand, it would seem that there should 
be one or more such classes in each grade above the i B. 
If there are not sufficient children in one school to form 
such a class in a given grade, such children might be trans- 
ferred temporarily to a neighboring school having such a 
class. 

ELEMENTARY SUMMER SCHOOLS 

A further means of enabling backward children of 
whatever degree of over-ageness to gain more nearly a 
complete elementary education is the establishment of sum- 
mer schools for backward children. Such summer schools 
are not play schools, but places for serious work, where 
children are able either to make up the work in certain 
subjects in which they have failed, thereby receiving the 
promotion denied them at the end of the school year, or 
where they are able to do an entire term's work. Climatic 
conditions are most favorable in Butte for the establish- 
ment of such a summer school. If such a school were 
established, it would merely be extending to the elementary- 
school pupils advantages already offered to high-school 
pupils. 

The establishment of special classes for defective chil- 
dren, the establishment of special classes or a central school 
for backward children, the organization of rapid advance- 
ment classes, and the organization of a summer school, 
would all tend to reduce the amount of over-age, because 
these special classes and schools afford children additional 
opportunities to do the prescribed work, or the opportunity 
to do this work under more favorable conditions than at 
present. 



88 Problems in City School Administration 

It might be thought that the formation of these special 
classes would entail material cost. It must be remembered, 
however, that these children are already in the schools and 
are being instructed at a great disadvantage, whereas if 
they are segregated and given special opportunities, not only 
is the education received by them more beneficial, but many 
of them will be able to complete the elementary school, and 
thus shorten the number of years they are actually in- 
structed. In a word, experience has shown that whereas 
the direct cost of establishing such classes is considerable, 
the ultimate cost is immaterial. In addition, the segrega- 
tion of this group of children makes more favorable the 
working conditions in regular classes for normal children. 

RATE OF PROMOTION AND NON-PROMOTION 

Equally as fundamental in reducing the amount of over- 
age in the elementary schools of Butte is the necessity of 
reducing the present high rate of non-promotion, for the 
direct cause of children falling behind their grade is their 
failure to be advanced regularly; hence the significance of 
non-promotion. Table XIV gives, by grades, the number 
of children promoted, the number not promoted, and the 
per cent, of non-promoted for the first semester of the cur- 
rent school year. 

It will be observed that out of 5,744 pupils in all the 
grades at the end of the first semester of the current school 
year, 1,040 failed of advancement, or 18 per cent. It will 
also be observed that the per cent, of non-promotion varies 
from 7 per cent, in the 8 A grade to 29 per cent, in the 
I B grade. 

REDUCING NON-PROMOTION 

The first step In lowering the present high rate of non- 
promotion is to standardize better the requirements of the 
several grades. These requirements should be equal, that 
is, adapted to the abilities of the children. There is no 



Classification and Progress of Pupils 



89 



TABLE XIV 
Promotion and Non-Promotion 





Total 

Enrollment 

for 

Semester 


Number 
in Class 
at end 
of Se- 
mester 


Number in Class at 
End of Semester 


Per Cent, of 
Non-Promo- 
tion on Basis 
of Number 

at End 
of Semester 


Grade 


a 
Promoted 


h 

Not 
Promoted 


8 A 

8 B 

7 A 

7 B 

6 A 

6 B 

5 A 

5B 

4 A 

4B 

3 A 

3 B 

2 A 

2 B 

I A 

I B 


177 
220 
214 
333 
333 
370 
348 
434 
371 
476 
384 
537 
375 
493 
380 

879 


152 
200 
199 
301 
297 

337 
322 
402 
342 
426 

349 

492 

346 
448 

353 
778 


141 
170 

151 

241 

248 

275 
272 

350 
300 

353 
313 
403 
294 
361 
283 
549 


II 

30 
48 
60 

62 

50 
52 
42 

36 
89 
52 
87 
70 
229 


7 
IS 

24 

16 
18 
IS 

12 
12 

17 

10 
18 

IS 

19 
19 
29 


Total . . . 


6,324 


5,744 


4,704 


1,040 


18 



good reason why, for example, the rate of non-promotion 
in the 4 B grade should be 10 per cent, and in the 7 B 
grade 24 per cent. We would, therefore, recommend that 
data be collected at the end of each semester by schools 
and by grades, on the rate of promotion and non-promo- 
tion, and that these data be made the basis of discussing 
with principals and teachers in the several schools the 
reasons for variations in non-promotion standards, to the 
end that there may be uniformity of standards of non- 
promotion in the several schools and that the present high 
rate of non-promotion may be lowered. 

It will be noted that the highest rate of non-promotion 
in any single grade is in the i B, 29 per cent. ; that is, almost 
I child out of every 3 failed of advancement at the end of 



90 Problems in City School Administration 



PERCENTAGES OF NON-PROMOTION 
BASED ON ENROLLMENT AT END OF SEMESTER 



GRADE 



B 



PER CENTO 8 



WM 


= NON-PROMOTED 




m 


1 






\m 


ym 1 






m 


'MM/M 1 






m 


VM/A 1 






VM 


MA 1 






VM 


MM 1 






^ 


y//A 1 






V/A 


^ 


1 






VM 


^ 


1 






VM 


■M/A 1 






VM 


^ 1 






VM 


VMA 1 






VM 


m 1 






VA 


MM 1 






VM 


^M^ 1 






^ 


MMMM 



20 



40 



60 



80 



100 



Fig. 13. The Line Drawn at 8% Indicates a Probable Maximum 
Normal Rate of Non-Promotion. All Non-Promotion to the 
Right of the Line is Excessive. 



Classification and Progress of Pupils 91 

the last semester. While there are other reasons for this 
high rate of non-promotion, one factor in bringing about 
this condition is the presence, in at least several schools in 
the city, of a large number of foreign-speaking children, 
to whom English is practically a foreign language. To 
meet similar conditions, progressive cities have formed v^hat 
is known as "classes for non-English-speaking children." 
These classes are made smaller than the standard i B class. 
To them is assigned one of the best primary teachers in the 
building, and into the class are brought all children of the 
type in question. Such classes should be established in all 
schools of Butte where there is any considerable number 
of foreign-speaking children. The introduction of such 
classes alone would go far to reduce the present rate of 
non-promotion. While such classes would add to the direct 
expense of instructing primary children, facts are at hand 
to show that, when such classes are inaugurated, the rate 
of promotion among such children is so much higher that, 
in the last analysis, they are an economy. 

Even more fundamental in reducing the present high 
rate of non-promotion than standardizing the requirements 
of the several grades, and the establishment of classes in 
the I B for non-English-speaking children, is the necessity 
of a fundamental change in the conception of what con- 
stitutes an elementary education. The prevailing concep- 
tion here seems to be that the purpose of the elementary 
school is to instill into the minds of the children a given 
number of relatively isolated facts and formal definitions. 
Children who can master these facts and definitions and 
reproduce them are promoted. Those who are unable to 
do this are not promoted. Such a working conception of 
elementary education represses the natural abilities of the 
children and fails to appeal either to their imagination or 
to their reason. If school officials, principals, and teachers 
can come to see that the prime purpose of the elementary 
schools is to develop the natural tastes and abilities of 
children, to arouse their imaginations, to stimulate their 



92 Problems in City School Administration 

emotions, and to give them power to solve problems and 
to meet practical situations in life, the question of the right 
of children to advancement will not be based upon mastery 
of facts of a grade, but upon the ability to do work which 
lies ahead. On such a basis, teachers and principals would 
feel that they can advance a much larger per cent, of chil- 
dren than they do at the present time. 

The question naturally arises, in this connection, what 
is the proper rate of promotion? Briefly answered, the 
requirements of the elementary-school course of study 
should be such that normal children, regular in attendance, 
should be able to complete the elementary-school course 
in at least 8 years, which means, when interpreted in terms 
of promotion, that if children are normal and regular in 
attendance the rate of promotion should be approximately 
100 per cent. 

FAILURES BY STUDIES 

Whereas over-age results directly from failure to be 
advanced, non-promotion is due to children failing in cer- 
tain branches of the course of study. Table XV gives, 
by grades, the number of children failing, at the end of 
the first semester of the current school year, in each of the 
several branches of the elementary school course. 

It will be observed that the total failures in the several 
studies are by no means uniform, varying from 2 In sew- 
ing to 497 in arithmetic. On the basis of the number of 
children failed in the respective subjects. It Is obvious that 
the requirements in these several subjects are unequal, and 
that these branches are not given equal place in the ad- 
vancement of the children. The number of failures In 
arithmetic is the highest, and this subject is obviously given 
the first place In the course of study ; reading, the second ; 
language, the third; geography, the fourth; spelling, the 
fifth; physiology, the sixth; writing, the seventh; music, 
the eighth; United States history, the ninth; drawing, the 



Classification and Progress of Pupils 



93 



TABLE XV 
Failures by Studies 



Grade 


ll 


to 


6iO 

1 




s 




be 


1 


.2 


02 


be 


1 





I 

1 






^o 


P^ 


:§ 


^ 


C& 







P 


^ 


Q 


S 


S 


^ 


8 A 


177 


152 





11 


5 


I 








I 








I 


I 





8 B 


220 
214 

333 
333 


200 
199 


3 
3 


17 

38 


It 


3 
6 



15 


6 
9 


II 
TI 


2 



I 




? 


I 

T 





7 A 


T 


7 B 


301 
297 





54 
44 


23 


2 


19 


7 





5 


4 


IT 


3 





6 A 


I 


t; 


3 


6 


2 





I 


I 


I 





I 


6 B 


370 
348 
434 

III 

384 
537 
375 
493 
380 
879 


337 


6 


50 


18 


II 


21 


t6 


3 


8 


6 


8 


I 





r A 


322 
402 
342 
426 

349 
492 
346 
448 
353 
778 


3 
I 


38 
23 


8 


4 


t8 


II 


T 


T 


T 


T 








cB . 


10 


6 


21 


5 


I 

















4A .. 


6 


?,8 


20 


8 


II 


7 





2 


2 


3 








1b 


4 



42 
24 
43 

46 



25 
7 


t8 


13 


19 





2 














3 A 


6 


7 


2 




















3B 


10 


36 


31 


34 


16 





7 


4 











2A 


?,6 


6 


7 











2 


T 


T 








2 B 


66 


7 


28 











T 














I A 


64 

203 


3 
8 





























I B 


9 


9 






























Total 


6,324 


5,744 


396 


497 


221 


143 


165 


100 


1 


11 


20 




29 


7 


2 



tenth; manual training, the eleventh; and sewing, the 
twelfth. 

Indeed, in view of the number of failures, it might be 
said that only reading, arithmetic, language, spelling, geog- 
raphy, and physiology play any material part in the ad- 
vancement of children in the schools of Butte. While per- 
haps no one would contend that writing, drawing, music, 
manual training, and sewing should be given equal place 
with the other branches of the course of study, yet we 
believe it is equally wrong not to give these branches an 
important place in the education of children. Indeed, were 
this done, we believe that not only the rate of promotion 



94 Problems in City School Administration 

in the elementary schools in Butte would be increased, but 
the real value of the education given would be enhanced. 



REDUCING THE NUMBER OF FAILURES 

The differences in the number of failures in the several 
subjects that seemingly do actually count in the advance- 
ment of the children, raises the practical question why 497 
children should be failed in arithmetic against 396 in read- 
ing, 221 in language, 165 in geography, 143 in spelling, and 
100 in physiology. These differences also raise the ques- 
tion why the requirements in physiology should be such 
that 100 children are failed against 27 in United States 
history. In a word, these variations raise the question 
with regard to the requirements of the several branches 
of the course of study. Similar data, we believe, should 
be collected by schools and by grades, and these data be 
made the basis for discussion with principals and teachers, 
to the end that the requirements in the several studies may 
be adapted to the abilities of the children and made com- 
mensurate with the real importance of the respective sub- 
jects in the education of children. 

SIZE OF CLASS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 

While the progress of children through the schools is 
not as regular as it should be, and while there is great 
need of providing special classes for different groups of 
pupils, there are, notwithstanding, conditions in the schools 
of Butte which ought to contribute much to the regular 
advancement of pupils. Among such conditions is the size 
of classes. 

In order that the very best work may be done, classes 
in the schools ought not to contain more than from 35 to 
40 pupils. When classes are of this size, it is possible for 
the teacher to give the time and attention to pupils requisite 
to the achievement of the best results. 



Classification and Progress of Pupils 95 

There were in the elementary schools of Butte, in the 
first semester of the current school year, 177 classes. Of 
these 177 classes, the average number belonging, that is, 
the daily average number for which a teacher is responsible, 
was as follows: 

18 had an average belonging of less than 25. 
39 had an average belonging of 25 and less than 30. 
56 had an average belonging of 30 and less than 35. 
45 had an average belonging of 35 and less than 40. 
17 had an average belonging of 40 and less than 45. 
2 had an average belonging of 45 and less than 50. 



Total, 177 

While 19 of the classes in the elementary schools ex- 
ceeded the ideal number of 35 to 40, it may be said that 
there were but two over-large classes, the two having an 
average belonging of 45 and less than 50. We doubt 
whether such favorable class conditions are duplicated in 
any other city of similar size in the United States, and 
we heartily approve and commend the size of classes as 
found in the elementary schools of Butte. 

SIZE OF SECTIONS IN" THE HIGH SCHOOL 

Similar favorable conditions exist in the high school 
with respect to the size of recitation sections. Recitation 
sections in a high school, it is generally agreed, ought not 
to contain more than from 25 to 30 pupils, if instruction 
is to be effective. 

Table XVI (page 96) gives by subjects the number 
and size of the recitation sections in the Butte High School, 
as of February 2y, 19 14. 



96 



Problems in City School Administration 



TABLE XVI 
Number and Size of Recitation Sections 





o 
u 


Size of Section 


'a 


^ 


Subject 


a 
t3 


M 
1 





1 





1 
M 





IT) 


6c^ 
ZJJ 


English 


32 
7 

15 
7 
5 
4 
2 

4 
4 

A 

14 

20 
6 
6 

12 

7 
3 
I 

I 
3 
4 
5 


2 
2 

2 

I 
3 
I 
2 


I 

2 

6 

2 

2 
2 
2 
5 


II 

3 
8 
2 

I 

2 

2 

15 

2 
8 

3 
4 

I 
2 


16 

2 
2 

3 
8 

4 
5 
I 

3 

I 


4 

2 

I 

2 
2 

4 
I 


•• 


•• 




693 
96 

227 
97 

96 
38 
87 
62 
102 

515 
286 

437 

105 

114 

173 

94 

43 

21 

6 

22 

67 


21.7 
13.7 
151 

139 

8 


Elocution 

Latin 


German 


French 


Geolosv . . . 


24 

19 
21 .7 


Biology 


Physics 


Chemistry 

Physiography 

Mathematics 

History . . . 


155 

20.4 

19.8 

20.4 

21.9 

^7-5 

19 

14.4 

134 
14-3 
21 


Com'l Branches . . 

Stenography 

Typewriting 

Drawing 

Mech. Drawing. . 
Wood Turning . . . 
Toiningf 


Forge Work 

Machine Work . . . 
Cookins' 


6 

7-3 
14 


Sewing . . 


13 .4 






Total Sections of 
Different Sizes . . . 


193 


24 


36 


66 


48 


16 


I 


I 


I 






Per Cent, of Sectic 
of Each Size 


)ns 


12.4 


18.6 


34-2 


24.9 


8-3 


0.5 


o-S 


0.5 











Of the 193 recitation sections in the high school on 
February 27, 19 14, there were sections having: 

Under 11 pupils, 24 or 12.4 per cent. 



Classification and Progress of Pupils 97 

II to 15 pupils, 36 or 18.6 per cent. 
16 to 20 pupils, 66 or 34.2 per cent. 
21 to 25 pupils, 48 or 24.9 per cent. 
26 to 30 pupils, 16 or 8.3 per cent. 
31 to 35 pupils, I or 0.5 per cent. 
36 to 40 pupils, I or 0.5 per cent. 
41 to 45 pupils, I or 0.5 per cent. 

There were, it will be observed, not to exceed three 
over-large sections in the entire school. The sections rang- 
ing from 21 to 30, 64 or 33.2 per cent, of the total num- 
ber, fall within the standard limits or are of reasonable 
size, while all sections under 21, 126 or 65.2 per cent of 
the total number, may be characterized as small. 

In a cosmopolitan high school, such as that of Butte, 
by reason of the number of different courses offered, the 
number of different electives permitted, and the relatively 
small number of pupils in each of the several courses, a 
considerable number of small sections, especially in the 
upper classes, are inevitable. Whether or not there are 
an unnecessary number of small recitation sections in the 
high school, it is impossible for us to say. This much is, 
however, clear. In order that the number of small recita- 
tion sections may be kept at a minimum, special attention 
should be given to the technique of high-school program 
making. 

In addition, the presence of such a large number of 
small sections makes clear the possibility of a considerable 
increase in the number of pupils in certain departments, 
without a corresponding increase in the number of teachers. 
This is particularly true in the case of Latin, German, 
French, in all of the sciences, and in the so-called industrial 
branches — mechanical drawing, wood turning, joinery, 
forge-work, machine-shop work, cooking, and sewing. 
In a word, the present enrollment of the high school in 
many departments could probably be increased by 50 per 
cent, without a material increase in the number of teachers 
and equipment. 



98 Problems in City School Administration 



FAILURES BY STUDIES IN THE HIGH SCHOOL 

The high-school course is, in theory, four years in 
length. When a student fails in a given branch, either this 
failure must be made up by taking extra work in a subse- 
quent term, or the student, to graduate, must remain in 
high school longer than four years. To fail to complete 
the work in a subject within the prescribed time is, there- 
fore, important both to the pupil and to the tax payer. 

Table XVII gives, by studies, the failures in the high 
school during the first semester of the current school year. 

It will be observed that the failures by studies range 
from o in penmanship to 32.65 per cent, in French, and 
that, while the average per cent, of failures in all studies 
is 10.77, there is no uniformity among the different studies 
in the per cent, of failures. The majority of failures are, 
however, in a few studies, such as Latin, German, French, 
physics, mathematics, stenography, and typewriting. 

Why should the requirement be such in a study like 
economics that all pupils can carry the work, while the 
requirements are such that 32.18 per cent, fail in physics, 
32.65 per cent, in French, 25 per cent, in Latin, 24,18 per 
cent, in German, and 18.63 per cent, in mathematics? 
Greater liberality can, doubtless, be shown in advancing 
children in a study which is given for one term only, as 
economics, than in a study like Latin which continues from 
term to term throughout the course, but why should the 
requirements be so different even in studies which continue 
from term to term, and which are assigned equal time- 
values in the course of study? 

Such differences may be due to differences in the diffi- 
culty for the student of the subject matter presented, to 
differences in methods of teaching, or to differences in the 
standards of attainment held by different teachers. What- 
ever the cause, such data as the above should be collected 
for each term by subjects and teachers and be made the 
basis of discussion between principals and teachers, to the 



Classification and Progress of Pupils 



99 



TABLE XVII 
Failures in High School by Studies 



Study 



Number in 
Class at End 
of Semester^ 



Number 

of 
Failures 



Per Cent. 

of 
Failures 



English 

Reading 

Latin 

German 

French 

Chemistry 

Physics 

Geology 

Physiography 

Biology 

Mathematics 

History 

Economics 

Commercial Law 

Commercial Arithmetic 

Spelling 

Commercial Geography 

Penmanship 

Bookkeeping 

Stenography 

Typewriting 

Free Hand Drawing . . . 
Mechanical Drawing . . . 

Manual Training 

Sewing 

Cooking 

Total 



625 
82 

208 
91 
49 
41 
87 
52 
89 
29 

467 

242 
26 

IS 
92 

73 
29 
92 

100 

97 
96 
164 
84 
81 
55 
41 



34 
4 
52 
22 
16 
6 
28 

3 
12 

o 

87 

17 

o 

o 

5 
8 
I 
o 
o 

17 
17 

2 

4 

10 
o 
o 



3,107 



335 



5-41 

4.87 

25.00 

24.18 

32.65 

14.63 

32.18 

5-76 

13.40 

0.00 

18.63 

7.02 

0.00 

0.00 

5-43 

IO-9S 

3-45 

0.00 

0.00 

17-52 
16.56 
1 .22 
4-75 
12.34 
0.00 
0.00 



10.77 



end that methods of teaching may be improved and the 
requirements of each of the several studies be better stand- 
ardized, — that is, made commensurate with the importance 
of the study in the education of children. Unless that is 
done, the advancement of children is conditioned very 

* Number in Class at End of Semester includes also pupils in the class 
any time during the semester who dropped out of the given class, but who 
remained in school. 



lOO Problems in City School Administration 

largely by the subject they take and the particular teacher 
they chance to have. 

Moreover, data should be collected on the actual length 
of time it takes pupils to complete a given course, and on 
the basis of such data the requirements of the respective 
courses should be so adjusted to the abilities of children 
that those who are normal and regular in attendance can 
complete an entire course in four years. 

SUMMARY 

The school population of the city of Butte is, as we 
have seen, cosmopolitan, comprising a very large foreign 
element, which adds considerably to the difficulty of con- 
ducting a successful school system. On the other hand, 
the school system is of the traditional type, giving tradi- 
tional courses of instruction. In order that the efficiency 
of the school system of Butte may be definitely measured, 
it will be necessary, as we have pointed out, to collect more 
adequate data than are now at hand on the number of 
children in the district of school age, on the number of 
children enrolled in the public, private, and parochial 
schools, and on the holding power of these schools. That 
information may be at hand which will aid in simplifying 
the course of study and standardizing study standards, 
data should be collected on promotions, non-promotions, 
and on failures by studies. That greater opportunity may 
be afforded to children who are already behind their grade, 
there is need for the establishment of special classes and 
schools having special purposes and courses of study de- 
signed to meet the needs of different groups of children. 
Moreover, that the public schools of Butte may serve in 
the fullest way all the children, youth, and adults of the 
community, there is need of additional readjustments other 
than the above. These needed readjustments will be dis- 
cussed in full in the subsequent chapters of this report. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE QUALITY OF INSTRUCTION 

npHE strength of any school system depends, in large 
•^ measure, upon the quality of work done by individual 
teachers. The commission appointed to survey the Butte 
school system began their work by planning a schedule 
by which every teacher employed in the district was to be 
visited. In these visits, each teacher was observed during 
a whole recitation period, or during such part of a period 
as was necessary to understand her methods of work in 
the subject w^hich was being taught. As has already been 
indicated, all the members of the Survey commission parti- 
cipated in this part of the work. Each of them reported, 
at the end of each day's visitation, concerning the several 
teachers whose work had been observed. In summarizing 
the observations, it was discovered that not only had 
practically every teacher been visited, but that one or more 
lessons had been observed in every subject and In every 
grade in which that subject was taught. These reports 
were discussed by all of the members of the commission, 
and the findings reported below represent the combined 
judgment of all, and not the opinion of any individual. 

(i) Standards for Judging the Quality of Instruc- 
tion AND Classroom Procedure 

It is not uncommon to judge of the work of an indi- 
vidual teacher or of a school system in terms of certain 
aims, purposes, or ideals of education. In modern educa- 
tional theory, it has been common to define the aim of 
education In terms of social efficiency. That aim as 
analyzed has sometimes been Interpreted to mean that the 

101 



102 Problems in City School Administration 

work of the school is to be judged by the degree to which 
certain quaHties are developed in children which enable 
them to contribute to the common good. These qualities 
may be expressed as follows: 

1. Sympathy, or responsiveness to social needs. 

2. Intelligence, or the ability to think straight with 
respect to those issues which involve all members 
of the community. 

3. The habit of acting for the common good. 

We desire to develop in our democracy a group of 
individuals filled with ideals of service, intelligent and open- 
minded with respect to community problems, and practiced 
in the art of serving their fellow-men. Significant as these 
standards or aims are, and necessary as they may be in 
giving direction and affording criteria for judgment con- 
cerning our education practice, there remains the fact that 
the individual recitation must be judged in terms of other 
criteria, largely psychological and sociological, which vary 
with the different subjects or parts of subjects taught, and 
with the maturity of the children being instructed. It has 
been our purpose in judging the quality of instruction and 
the classroom procedure to keep in mind both the aims of 
education which give direction and meaning to the whole 
process, while at the same time we judged of the technique 
of instruction with respect to different types of teaching 
situations and varying problems of school management. 

THE THREE TYPES OF LESSONS 

The Lesson for Habit Formation 

One of the most common types of classroom exercise 
is that which is known as the drill lesson. The success 
or failure of work of this kind depends upon the teacher's 
command of the technique of habit formation. To learn 
to spell a word, to know a multiplication table, or to com- 



The Quality of Instruction 103 

mand, automatically, the several forms of a German or a 
Latin verb, may be a long-drawn-out process against which 
the pupil rebels, or, by virtue of the skill of the teacher, 
the accomplishment of the desired end may carry only 
pleasant associations, and the time be greatly shortened. 
In drill, the motive or incentive for doing the work is of 
primary importance. The teacher who is able to make 
her pupils want to learn the tables in order that they may 
excel in an arithmetic game which they play, will secure 
the result which she desires with greater ease and in a 
shorter time than is necessary for another teacher who is 
interested only in compelling the children to acquire the 
habits involved because they are a part of the course of 
study which she has to teach. Skillful teachers are always 
seeking to vary the method which they employ, and to find 
new devices which introduce the maximum of motive upon 
the part of children. 

In a spelling lesson, the skillful teacher, who has secured 
the maximum of motive, realizes that it is necessary to 
have the attention of the children fixed upon that part of 
the work, or that peculiarity of relation between sound and 
letters, which may present a difficulty. In all other fields 
where we seek to establish invariable responses in the form 
of habits, it is essential that the children be conscious of 
the peculiar difficulty, and that they analyze the situation 
so as to center their attention upon the important element 
involved. Mere repetition of the multiplication table or 
of the letters of the words to be spelled will not bring the 
maximum of return in the way of ability to spell, or knowl- 
edge of the multiplication table. Repetitions are valuable 
in proportion as children concentrate their attention upon 
the forms they are attempting to learn. 

Teachers often make mistakes in prolonging the period 
of drill beyond the power of the children to give close 
attention to the work in hand. It is of great importance 
in work of this character that children be impressed with 
the futility of random guessing. They should rather be 



I04 Problems in City School Administration 

taught always to look up for themselves or to inquire from 
the teacher concerning the exact form, rather than to run 
the risk of making mistakes which will have a tendency to 
persist and to cause difficulty over long periods of time. 
Teachers need to learn that children may seem to know 
the proper spelling of words, their multiplication tables, or 
their declensions and conjugations on one day, and then 
have forgotten them a month or two afterwards. The suc- 
cessful teacher realizes, where habits are involved, that the 
ultimate complete mastery of a form which she hopes to 
fix depends upon the original learning, and almost equally 
upon the gradual lengthening of the periods between drill 
lessons. For example, a multiplication table which the 
children seem to have mastered today should be reviewed 
tomorrow, and next week, and two weeks later, and a 
month later. It is, of course, important in all drill work 
that as many opportunities as possible be provided for the 
use of the particular form mastered. Indeed, the criteria 
for directing those responses which we wish to make 
habitual is expressed by the demand that we drill children 
only with respect to those forms which they must con- 
tinually use. 

Lessons Involving Thinking 

The most significant work of the school, from the 
standpoint of educating for social service the children whom 
they teach, is to be found in the proper conduct of those 
lessons which involve thinking upon the part of pupils. 
The progress of our democracy depends, in the last analysis, 
upon the power of the individual citizen to think for him- 
self and to choose intelligently the leaders who are to carry 
out that program of social progress which we all desire. 
It is altogether too common in our schools to find children 
and teachers who are satisfied with repeating the ideas and 
thoughts of the book, or the mere memorization of those 
ideas or thoughts. From the standpoint of developing in- 



The Quality of Instruction 105 

telligence, and of preparing children for citizenship, it is 
of the utmost importance that the teacher discover to her 
pupils problems which will prove vital to them, and that 
the pupils accept responsibility for the thinking which is 
necessary in solving the problem which they face. Les- 
sons in nature study, geography, history, and the like do 
not serve their proper function in educating children when 
they end merely in remembering what the teacher or the 
book has declared with respect to a particular phenomenon 
or a peculiar situation. 

Knowledge or information can never be thought of as 
anything more than the raw material of thinking. It is of 
vastly greater importance that a pupil know how to gather 
information or data, that he be practiced in organizing and 
finding the meaning of the facts secured, that he reach his 
own conclusions, and that he have the habit of verifying 
these conclusions in terms of real situations, than that he 
be able to remember all of the facts in all of the books 
that have been furnished him during his school course. 
The teacher who asked a class to discover why they have 
such terrible famines in India, placed them in a position 
in which it was necessary to know the facts of the geog- 
raphy of India and stimulated them intellectually by de- 
manding that they utilize such knowledge as they possessed 
in the solution of a problem in which they were interested. 
The nature-study teacher who teaches children concerning 
the form and names of all the different parts of a plant 
or tree has accomplished very little as compared with the 
teacher who asked her class to try to decide why, in a 
certain community, most of the people had planted elm 
trees. A history teacher has not added greatly to the de- 
velopment of the intellectual life of her pupils when she has 
them recite, by topics, all of the facts recorded in the text, 
but she may have developed some power of independent 
thought if she asks her pupils to think for themselves con- 
cerning the issues which have been presented in the thought 
of the generations which are past, and which have deter- 



io6 Problems in City School Administration 

mined the course of human history. Put briefly, one may 
judge of the success of those lessons which should involve 
thinking by asking the following questions: 

1. Has the teacher discovered to the pupils problems in 
which they are vitally interested ? 

2. Have the children learned, under the guidance of 
the teacher, how to collect that information or those data 
which are essential for the solution of their problems? 

3. Have the pupils learned how to organize the data 
which they have gathered in such a way as to discover 
their significance? 

4. Have the pupils a command of fundamental prin- 
ciples, and are they in the habit of consciously referring 
to those principles which have been established, in ex- 
pressing their beliefs, or conclusions? 

5. Does the teacher constantly seek to place the respon- 
sibility for inference with the pupils, rather than ask them 
to accept the conclusions which she has reached, or which 
are to be found in a book? 

6. Are pupils learning that no conclusion or belief is 
to be accepted without such verification as may be possible 
in the experience of everyday life? 

It is only when teachers have such ideas and ideals 
as are given above that we may hope to develop in our 
schools that intelligence which will make for a society in 
which the boss and the demagogue and the quack are driven 
out, and the leadership of the scientist and of the man 
devoted to the public welfare accepted. 

Lessons for Appreciation 

We are coming to understand that it is the business 
of education to provide for the use of leisure time as well 
as to give vocational training. Throughout our country 
we find men and women whose leisure is devoted to types 
of amusement which are not only not beneficial, but often 



The Quality of Instruction 107 

positively injurious. It is the business of education to 
develop the power of appreciation in the fields of literature, 
fine arts, and music, not only from the standpoint of the 
books and pictures and music which are made available 
for all at the public expense, but also from the standpoint 
of developing in the home a type of activity and interest — 
possibly even an avocation — which may relieve somewhat 
the drudgery which is too often associated with the day's 
work. For the development of this power of appreciation 
and of interest in those things which are most worthy, the 
school community must depend most of all upon the 
teacher's power of appreciation and her skill in interpreta- 
tion. Great literature, noble poetry, and beautiful music 
are apt to attract children and become important factors 
in their lives only when the children have been fortunate 
enough to associate with those whose greatest satisfaction 
comes from the enjoyment of these nobler pleasures. 

We may never expect children to be fired with en- 
thusiasm for music or art or poetry, except as they come 
in contact with teachers of great power and enthusiasm. 
In addition to the teacher's interpretation, it is essential, 
in these fields, that the pupils learn something of the thought 
and feeling expressed in these artistic forms, and that they 
command, in some degree, the technique of the artist whose 
work they would appreciate. It is futile to have children 
recite poetry unless they have, back of the memorization, 
a lively appreciation of the thought expressed and of the 
emotions which the poet sought to express in words. Some 
knowledge and even some skill in the use of the technique 
of the artist may contribute to the power of appreciation, 
provided there is not too much emphasis upon this phase 
of the work. For example, it is well for children to be 
able to read music, but if the course in music centers in 
this technical work, there is apt to be little power of ap- 
preciation developed. The teacher who can subordinate 
the technical aspects of the subject to the more vital en- 
thusiasm which is developed through her power to inter- 



io8 Problems in City School Administration 

pret, IS the one who may expect the interest developed 
in school to carry over into the lives of the children after 
schooldays are over. 

Creative work in any of the artistic fields may mean 
much in a growth of power of appreciation. The pupil 
Vv^ho has written music to express a feeling corresponding 
to the words of the song composed by himself, the boy 
or girl who has tried to express, with the pencil or brush, 
the beauty of natural objects about him, may be expected 
to have a livelier appreciation of the work of the great 
artists than can ever be enjoyed by one who has never 
participated through production. In all of these fields it 
is of primary importance that the pupil exercise choice, 
rather than accept the statement of someone else, however 
more mature. Teachers often encourage pupils to say that 
they enjoy that which has little meaning for them, and the 
net effect of this hypocritical attitude upon the part of 
children is to destroy rather than create appreciation of 
those things most worth while. In poetry, or in music, 
or in art, it is well for the teacher, as often as is possible, 
to allow children to choose, from among those examples 
of the particular art which are worthy, the particular forms 
which they individually most enjoy. The power of ap- 
preciation develops gradually, and the skillful teacher holds 
before children, from time to time, those artistic forms 
which are just a little higher in the scale of excellence than 
those which the children have heretofore delighted in. 
Power to appreciate the noblest in literature, or in music, 
or in art, is reached only after long experience, and growth 
in power of appreciation is based upon the progressive 
use of those forms which lead from the lower to the higher 
levels. 

TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 

The success of any teacher may be measured by the 
ability shown by her pupils for independent work. It is 
entirely possible to conduct a good drill lesson in spelling, 



The Quality of Instruction 109 

and yet have children waste time when they study their 
speUing lessons alone. It is necessary, if children are to 
work independently and economically, for the teacher to 
make them conscious of the method of work which will 
bring the most satisfactory results. They need to think 
of the necessity for picking the particular difficulties in the 
forms to be mastered ; they need to realize what it is to pay 
attention; and they must know the danger of making mis- 
takes, if they are to be expected to study their spelling 
lesson, or their multiplication tables, or their declensions 
and conjugations to best advantage. In that part of the 
school work involving thinking, it is not enough for the 
children to have exercised such power of thought as they 
may possess, under the direction of the teacher. They 
need to understand that it is necessary, in good thinking, 
to refer constantly to the particular problem under con- 
sideration. They must be taught how to use books and 
reference material to the best advantage. They need train- 
ing in notating and in annotating. They need to be made 
conscious of the process of organizing data with reference 
to the particular problem which they are attacking. 

Even in an exercise so simple as the memorization of 
a poem, it is essential, if the teacher would avoid habits 
of work which are positively injurious, that she make her 
pupils aware of the fact that the process of memorization 
depends upon careful analysis of the thought, mastery of 
the shades of meaning expressed by the author, and care- 
ful attention to the particular mode or method of expres- 
sion, before any attempt is made to repeat the words of 
the author. It is possible to demonstrate to children that 
this method of work is not only more satisfactory from 
the standpoint of understanding and appreciating the poem, 
but that it is also actually more economical from the stand- 
point of the time which will be needed for the process of 
memorization. In all kinds of school work it is most 
necessary that pupils be made conscious of the method of 
work which is most economical, and that they constantly 



no Problems in City School Administration 

be encouraged to undertake independent study. Children 
who have been taught how to study will continue to learn, 
while children who have not learned how to work independ- 
ently will be handicapped, even in their later school or col- 
lege work. 

SOCIAL PHASES OF SCHOOL WORK 

The success of the work of any teacher depends, in 
large measure, upon the relationships which exist among 
the pupils of her class, and between members of the class 
and herself. A recitation ought to be a place where chil- 
dren and teacher discuss together the problems which are 
involved in the subjects which they study. All too often 
teachers dominate the situation, and children ignore each 
other. We may not hope to develop the spirit of coopera- 
tion nor the habit of working for common ends in a class- 
room which is dominated by a teacher whose orders, or 
requests, furnish the sole criteria of action for the pupils. 
The right sort of social relationships in the classroom can 
be indicated by asking the following questions concerning 
classroom procedure: 

1. Do the children do most of the talking? 

2. Do children ask questions of each other? 

3. Are the questions which the teacher asks such as to 
stimulate discussion among the pupils? 

4. Do the children answer questions which are put by 
the teacher, or by other children, only after careful thought, 
and are they willing to defend their position against the 
suggestions of doubt which may be expressed by other 
pupils? 

5. Do children feel that it is most worth while to help 
each other, and do they commonly feel responsible for the 
progress of the class? 

6. Are the children so arranged during the recitation 
period as to be able to see each other? 



The Quality of Instruction iil 

7. Is It the habit of every child to speak to all the mem- 
bers of the group, rather than to the teacher? 

When the work of the classroom is so organized as 
to develop the spirit of full and free discussion upon the 
part of pupils, when the teacher's questions are such as to 
provoke thought, when pupils really discuss with each other 
the issues which may arise in their class work, when the 
spirit of cooperation is everywhere present, when the 
teacher realizes that it is her main business to guide and 
direct the normal processes of thought and action on the 
part of the pupils, rather than to test them, and to accept 
the entire responsibility for their control, then the social 
training received in the schools may be expected to con- 
tribute largely to the development of socially efficient boys 
and girls. 

DISCIPLINE AND MANAGEMENT 

Much that has been suggested under the head of social 
phases of school work might have been treated under the 
head of discipline and management. There remains to be 
considered the question of discipline in its narrower sig- 
nificance. The end to be sought in the control of children 
is the development of the power of self-control. We ought 
to judge discipline in a classroom, not primarily by the 
ability which the teacher has to compel children to remain 
quiet and orderly, but rather by the power of the children 
to accept the responsibility for themselves either when the 
teacher is present or when she may be absent from the 
room. The teacher who is able to allow children to move 
from their seats in order to consult books, or to ask ques- 
tions, or to secure needed materials, has undoubtedly de- 
veloped greater strength upon the part of pupils, and should 
be given credit for better management, than the teacher who 
must always be consulted before the pupil leaves his seat. 

There are, of course, situations which demand an in- 
variable response and which should be matters of habit. 



112 Problems in City School Administration 

The passing of materials to a whole class, or a fire drill, 
are good illustrations of this type of response. The end 
to be sought is, however, mainly to develop upon the part 
of children a feeling of responsibility for themselves and 
for their class and school. It is only when children have 
this practice in self-control that we may claim that the 
school is doing its part to develop in them Qualities which 
are so essential for good citizenship. 

Under the head of management may be considered the 
problems of group teaching, individual instruction, and seat 
work. In any group of thirty to forty children, a good 
teacher will find occasion for dividing the larger group into 
two or three smaller divisions, in order that those of similar 
ability may work together. There will always be need for 
individual instruction for the boy or girl who has been 
absent on account of illness, or for one who may be back- 
ward with reference to some particular phase of school 
work. When the class is sectioned, those who are not recit- 
ing will, if they have been taught to work independently, be 
engaged in the preparation of lessons which are to follow. 

(2) The Quality of the Teaching Done in the 
Butte Schools 

Having established the criteria for judging the quality 
of Instruction, it might seem proper to pass judgment, with- 
out further discussion, upon the work of the teachers 
of the school system, were it not for the fact that in any 
situation the quality of the teaching done depends upon 
certain other facts. These may be named as follows: 

1. The courses of study. 

2. The character of supervision. 

3. The preparation of the teachers. 

Each of these considerations is treated more fully in 
another part of this report. Suffice it to say here that the 
teachers of Butte represent, as a body, a minimum of pro- 



The Quality of Instruction 113 

fessional training or preparation; that most of those who 
hold supervisory positions have not been especially trained 
for their v^ork, and that the courses of study need revision. 

GREATER EFFICIENCY POSSIBLE 

In the very beginning of this discussion concerning the 
quality of the work done by the teachers, the commission 
wish to make a distinction between that which is now 
common in the practices of the teachers, and that which 
they believe is possible of accomplishment by the same 
teaching corps. After careful observation of all of the 
work of the school system, and of practically all of the 
teachers, it was the unanimous opinion of the commission 
that the teachers now in the school system are capable, by 
virtue of their natural ability and their capacity for growth, 
of rendering a quality of service very greatly superior to 
that which they now give. The commission do not wish, 
in making this statement, to undervalue the good work 
which is now being done, and it may be well, therefore, 
at the very beginning of this discussion, to enumerate some 
type of exercises which have come under their observation 
and which seem to them to merit special commendation. 

GOOD WORK SEEN 

In all of the schools of the city, teachers are doing 
good drill work. In some of the classes visited there was 
considerable discussion upon the part of pupils. In the 
topical work in geography and history, children showed 
considerable power in presenting the facts, with respect to 
a particular topic, in consecutive discussion ranging from 
one to ten minutes in duration. Many teachers were work- 
ing for the development of power in appreciation in music, 
literature, and drawing. The commission would like 
especially to commend the use of the phonograph and the 
work in dramatization, the committing to memory of poetry, 



114 Problems in City School Administration 

and the singing of songs which the children so much enjoy. 
The handwork which has been done in connection with the 
work in drawing will, it is believed, furnish a basis for 
more work of this sort. From the standpoint of the social 
phases of school work, the members of the commission 
were much pleased with the spirit of good fellowship which 
prevailed between teachers and pupils. They observed 
some degree of freedom in passing from the building and 
in moving about the room. Politeness and courtesy on 
the part of pupils seemed to be the rule throughout the city. 
In order to be perfectly frank, it is necessary to state 
that the excellent work, suggested in the enumeration given 
above, was not tmiversally found in the system. There is 
great need throughout the schools of capitalizing the strong 
work which is being done by especially capable teachers, 
by having them discuss their work with others who are 
less well trained, or by having those who are less able 
visit the classrooms in which the more capable teachers 
work. 

DRILL WORK 

It was noted above that the commission had observed 
some good drill work. In the system as a whole, drill has 
been entirely too much emphasized. On account of the 
importance attached to examinations, and because of the 
nature of these tests, it appears to the members of the 
commission that there has been altogether too much cram- 
ming of facts, and too little opportunity for thinking on 
the part of children. There needs to be more attention 
given to the problem of supplying proper motive for drill 
work, a better understanding of the necessity for gradual 
lengthening of the intervals between repetitions, and greater 
effort to find occasions for applying, in life situations, the 
results of the drill exercises. On the other hand, there is 
need for better appreciation of the meaning of habit and 
of drill with respect to correct speech, both from the stand- 
point of grammatical construction, enunciation, and pro- 



The Quality of Instruction 115 

nunciation, and with respect to cleanliness upon the part 
of pupils. Excellent work in drill exercises seems to the 
members of the commission to be easily within the reach 
of the large majority of the members of the teaching corps. 

EFFECT OF THE EXAMINATION SYSTEM 

The examination system which has prevailed in the city 
and in the state has, it seems to the members of the com- 
mission, interfered greatly with the development of the 
right sort of thinking on the part of pupils. The over- 
whelming demand of the examinations for facts, rather 
than for the power to think clearly, has led teachers to 
insist upon the memorization of the information given in 
the books. Possibly the greatest need of the school system, 
from the standpoint of instruction, is to be found in a 
change in the nature of the examinations and in the work 
of the teachers which will result In an emphasis upon think- 
ing, rather than remembering. Children in the school sys- 
tem need more and more to have problems proposed for 
their solution. They ought to be taught how to gather 
information, and how to organize and Interpret the facts 
which they find with relation to the problems they seek 
to solve. They should be taught to invoke principles which 
they have established, as a result of their own thinking, 
in order to explain the conclusions or beliefs which they 
hold. The habit of verification by reference to life situa- 
tions, rather than the appeal to authority, should be in- 
culcated. In all this work children need more and more 
to be permitted and encouraged to take the Initiative, to 
accept responsibility for conclusions, and to be willing to 
defend the position which they take in the discussions which 
should be common in the classroom. Teachers need to 
learn to keep themselves more and more in the background, 
— ^they should guide and direct, rather than dominate and 
control the thinking of children. To stimulate thought 
upon the part of children requires a maximum of teaching 



Ii6 Problems in City School Administration 

skill. Many of the teachers in the school system could be 
expected to do much stronger work in this field had they 
had better professional training, or should such training 
be provided for them. 

MORE TEACHING FOR APPRECIATION NEEDED 

Stronger work can be done, in those lessons involving 
appreciation, if teachers will feel the importance of their 
own emotional responses to the poetry or music or other 
art form involved. There is not much gain — and, indeed, 
there may be much loss — in requiring children to commit 
to memory a poem or to sing a song, if the teacher has 
not entered into the spirit of the situation herself, or has 
failed to interpret adequately for the children. Much of 
the reciting of poetry which members of the commission 
observed seemed to lack careful thought analysis, and ap- 
preciation of the emotion the author sought to portray. 
Children were too frequently merely repeating words, as 
rapidly as possible, rather than giving expression to the 
thought and feeling expressed by the poem. There was, 
in the judgment of the commission, too little attempt upon 
the part of children to create in the fields of literature, art, 
and music. In our best school systems today children 
write poetry, express thought and feeling with the pencil 
or brush, and even write music which they sing to the song 
which they have composed. Of course, these exercises 
result in childish productions, but nevertheless products 
which are tremendously worth while, from the standpoint 
of growth and power of appreciation. Some of the teach- 
ers in the school system are already trying to get results 
of the kind indicated above. Many more of them may 
be expected to develop strength in this kind of work under 
careful supervision, and by reason of the stimuli which may 
come from further professional training. 

There seemed to be little appreciation, upon the part 
of teachers, of the meaning of independent work or of 



The Quality of Instruction iiy 

teaching children to study. This again is due, we believe, 
to the very great dependence which has been placed upon 
remembering the textbook in order to pass examinations. 
If more emphasis were placed in the school system upon 
thinking, and less upon remembering facts, teachers would 
inevitably be brought to a consideration of the necessity 
of teaching children how to work independently. 

Most of the teachers of the school system have children 
recite to them, and occupy the position of final authority 
in matters intellectual and with reference to discipline. In 
some rooms the desire to have children work with and for 
each other was observed. One member of the commission 
reported a class in which the teacher had cut up some old 
reading books and mounted the several stories on card- 
board. In this room the children read their stories to the 
whole group. The reading was most excellent, and the 
reason, we believe, was to be found in the desire of the 
children to read their story so that others could under- 
stand and enjoy it. 

Pupils seldom asked questions, and there was almost no 
discussion in the classrooms visited. In most cases the 
children sat at their seats, or stood in line, reciting to the 
teacher and not to each other. To get the right type of 
social development in the schools will require a shift of 
emphasis away from the demand for results in mere knowl- 
edge, over to an insistence upon clear thinking as the most 
desirable end to be obtained. 



SUMMARY 

In summarizing the quality of instruction in the schools 
of Butte, the commission wish to go on record as be- 
lieving that as yet the teachers have only in a slight degree 
realized their full power. We believe that the present 
teaching corps could become very much more efficient, if 
professional training were required and provided by the 
school system. We are not unmindful of the excellent work 



Ii8 Problems in City School Administration 

which is now being done by some of the teachers, but we 
beheve that the general level of work done could be very 
materially improved. We particularly desire to call atten- 
tion to the need for better professional training, on the 
part of the principals of the schools, with reference to their 
particular duties. We believe that the schools are especially 
weak with respect to independent thought upon the part 
of pupils; that there is need for better appreciation upon 
the part of teachers, and a command of technique by them, 
which will result in developing greater power of thought 
and larger appreciation of those things which are most 
worth while upon the part of children. We are confident 
that the results which all desire in education cannot be 
achieved without more appreciation on the part of the 
teachers of the necessity for cooperative endeavor and dis- 
cussion upon the part of pupils. We confidently believe 
that the members of the teaching profession in Butte are 
not ignorant of the need for development along the lines 
that we have indicated, and we anticipate that they will 
be only too glad to do their share toward developing that 
strength in giving instruction which is to make the school 
system a large contributor to the development of social 
efficiency upon the part of all of the children of Butte. 
We wish, in closing this chapter, to commend especially 
the action of the Board of School Trustees in bringing an 
experienced and capable primary supervisor into the school 
system, as we feel certain that she can do much to improve 
the quality of the instruction in the lower grades of the city. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE COURSES OF STUDY 

Vl/'HEN we pass from an examination of the quality of 
^ ^ the instruction given to an examination of the courses 
of study provided for the children of Butte, we find in 
such courses many reasons for the defects in the instruc- 
tion pointed out in the last chapter. The courses of in- 
struction provided here do not meet the best tests of what 
such courses should contain; they are not closely related 
to the present or the future needs of Butte's children ; and 
they overemphasize mere information, drill, and the formal 
side of education. 

NEW CON-CEPTIONS OF EDUCATION 

The courses of study provided for Butte's children 
represent essentially an earlier conception of education, 
where drill on the mere fundamentals of knowledge was 
conceived to be the essential purpose of public education. 
To convey to children the accumulated knowledge of the 
past, often with little thought as to its usefulness or the 
effect of the instruction, was for long considered to be 
the chief work of teachers and schools. 

Within recent years, however, a newer and larger con- 
ception of the purpose of public education has come, and 
this newer and larger conception has been accepted rapidly 
and generally by our American people. This change in 
conception has meant much for the children in our schools, 
and has resulted in radical reconstructions and reorganiza- 
tions in the courses of study provided. New subjects of 
instruction have been introduced, new types of schools have 
been provided, and the point of emphasis, both in school 
work and in instruction, has been shifted from mere infor- 

119 



120 Problems in City School Administration 

iTiation and drill to the needs of the child as an individual. 
Instead of loading children with the accumulated knowl- 
edge of the past, the purpose in education has come to be, 
more and more, to prepare children for intelligent partici- 
pation in the social, domestic, economic, and political life 
of the future, of which they will soon form a part. 

A careful examination of the courses of instruction 
followed in Butte, the observation of the instruction given 
in the schools, and the tests made of the work of the chil- 
dren, all alike indicate that this newer conception of the 
purpose of education has as yet been but dimly understood 
by either teachers or school officers here. Mere drill, and 
not infrequently unintelligent and unproductive drill, still 
constitutes the bulk of all instruction offered in the ele- 
mentary schools of the city. 

FAILURE OF THE COURSES OF STUDY TO MEET THE NEW 
DEMANDS IN EDUCATION 

The courses of study followed at present in the schools 
of Butte, which are a combination of outlines issued by 
the school authorities of School District No. i and the 
printed course of study issued by the Department of 
Public Instruction of the State of Montana, represent rather 
strongly the older conceptions as to the purpose of public 
education. The old school "tool subjects" — reading, writ- 
ing, spelling, arithmetic, and English grammar — constitute 
the great bulk of all instruction now offered in the ele- 
mentary schools, and but little attempt seems to have been 
made to relate the instruction which is given to the life 
which surrounds the children. Instruction for informa- 
tion and drill, rather than for usefulness in life, seems to 
be the marked characteristic of the courses provided. 

The courses of instruction, too, are outlined in terms 
of pages of particular state-adopted textbooks, instead of 
in terms of topics and purposes, and in addition offer almost 
no suggestions to teachers as to methods of work or results 



The Courses of Study 121 

expected. The inevitable result is that teachers tend to 
teach textbooks rather than children, and instruction comes 
to be measured in terms of accomplishment rather than in 
terms of personal growth and increased power. 

Last but not least in importance comes the series of 
quarterly written examinations, issued by the central school 
authorities to test the kind of instruction given, and which 
all children, from the third grade up, are expected to take 
and for which teachers continually drill and review. As 
promotion from grade to grade depends rather largely^ 
on the ability of the children to pass the quarterly written 
tests, the tendency is strong to subordinate all other educa- 
tional aims and ends to that of drilling children to pass 
these quarterly examinations. Teachers have in their class- 
rooms sets of the examination questions used in previous 
examinations, and an effort is made to prepare the pupils 
for any questions which may be asked. 

FUNDAMENTAL NEEDS 

After making a thorough examination of the courses 
of study in use, the instruction in the schools, and sets 
of the examination questions used, certain fundamental 
recommendations seem desirable to the members of the Sur- 
vey commission. The courses of instruction need a funda- 
mental revision; much useless subject matter should be 
eliminated, and new subject matter substituted In Its place; 
the instruction in the schools should be redirected and 
vitalized; the scope of the instruction should be materially 
broadened; and the uniform written examinations, as a 
basis for promotion from grade to grade, should be aban- 
doned. 

1 In calculating the promotional average, two thirds are allowed, 
nominally, for daily work, and one third is based on the quarterly 
examinations; but as all grades made in all subjects other than the 
six so-called "standard (drill) studies" are excluded in calculating 
this promotional average, and as no grade below 70 in these "standard 
studies" will be accepted for passing, it will be seen that these written 
examinations really control the instruction given. 



122 Problems in City School Administration 

A somewhat more detailed examination of the instruc- 
tion provided will serve to make these general criticisms 
clearer. 

(l) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL COURSES OF STUDY 

Lack of Kindergartens 

The absence of any form of kindergarten instruction 
in connection with the schools of Butte, as well as the 
absence of the kindergarten spirit in the early primary 
grades, is a marked defect of the school system found 
here. The large foreign and laboring element found in 
Butte, and the peculiar social problems found here, make 
the need for kindergarten instruction, for the children in 
all the schools of the city, particularly strong. To make 
kindergarten instruction available for all the children be- 
tween four and six years of age in the district (small out- 
lying schools excepted), by the establishment of a kinder- 
garten class in each school building, is an end toward which 
the school authorities of this district should work. The 
peculiar home conditions found in Butte make kindergarten 
instruction for the smaller children much more important 
than would be the case in most other cities. Two ses- 
sions, one in the forenoon and one in the afternoon, and 
for different groups of kindergarten children, could be 
maintained in all the large school buildings, if the necessi- 
ties of the case should so demand, though one session 
each day probably would at first suffice. 

The First School Grade 

In most of the first and second grades visited the work 
seemed too formal and too stiff. This is only natural 
under present conditions and under the present courses of 
study. There is too much formal drill, and too little at- 
tention is given to the constructive and play activities of 
the children. The general introduction of kindergarten 



The Courses of Study 123 

classes, the carrying over of the kindergarten work and 
spirit into the work of the first grade, the gradual sub- 
stitution of chairs and movable tables for desks in the 
first two grades, and the elimination of some of the formal 
and more serious instruction offered in these grades would 
do much to improve the character and the quality of the 
instruction given. 

The Work in Arithmetic 

Approximately one eighth of the child*s total school 
time, during the eight years of his elementary-school life 
in Butte, is devoted to the study of arithmetic, while in 
the four upper grades one sixth of the total school time 
is given to this study. This is a large amount of time. 
An examination of the outline of instruction foUov/ed in 
arithmetic, as well as an examination of the three arith- 
metic textbooks in use in the schools, alike reveal the 
fact that an enormous amount of time is devoted to prob- 
lems which can never be of any practical importance to 
the children now in the Butte schools. Weeks and months 
and even years are devoted to the study and "working'' 
of problems of a type such as almost no one in any kind 
of practical life is ever called upon to solve, and which 
have no value whatever, except as busy work and mere 
drill. Many of the problems are mere puzzles and have 
no place in proper arithmetical training. Few persons 
in practical life ever have use for any mathematical ability 
beyond that involved in a good knowledge of addition, 
subtraction, multiplication, and division of simple whole 
numbers and fractions, a limited knowledge of decimals and 
percentages, and a few of the more commonly used meas- 
ures of weight and dimensions. Yet pupils here are spend- 
ing much time in solving problems involving ratio and pro- 
portion, the extraction of roots, the manipulation of rarely 
used measures, the purchase of stocks and bonds, banking, 
foreign exchange, interest, partial payments, taxes, insur- 
ance, the measurement of geometrical solids, and the like. 



124 Problems in City School Administration 

That some of the pupils get these problems and enjoy 
them must be admitted, but that to most of the pupils 
the work is largely a waste of valuable time is also equally 
certain. The arithmetical tests taken by the members of 
the commission, and to which more detailed reference is 
made in Chapter IX of this report, showed a surprisingly 
wide variation in arithmetical ability among the different 
children in the different grades tested, indicating that the 
results obtained are in no way uniform or commensurate 
with the efforts expended. 

The arithmetical work is too heavy, entirely too wide 
a range of work is attempted, too much of the school time 
is devoted to the subject, and too much mere written 
arithmetic and too little mental arithmetic is required. 
The commission recommend that the work in arithmetic 
be materially reduced and rearranged, and after somewhat 
the following plan: 

First Grade. No arithmetic to be taught, except as 
counting or numbers may be incidental to other 
school work. 

Second Grade. Very little in the first half, and this 
quite concrete; and not beyond page 48 (counting) 
of the Elementary Arithmetic, during the year. 

Third and Fourth Grades. About as at present.' 

Fifth Grade. Using the Complete Arithmetic, Part I, 
and through simple fractions, to page 126. 

Sixth Grade. Decimal fractions and denominate num- 
bers, up to page 214. Omit balance of Part I. 

Seventh Grade. Complete Arithmetic, Part II, up to 
page yS. Omit balance of book. 

In all grades from third to seventh, materially increase 
the oral work, and require quick daily drills on 
simple combinations of whole numbers and fractions, 
and simple mental problems paralleling the written 
work. Emphasize reasoning, rather than the mere 
working of problems. 



The Courses of Study 125 

Eighth Grade. Introduce a simple course in home and 
business bookkeeping and accounting. Three days 
each week will be sufficient for this work, or, perhaps 
better still, five days a week for a half year. 

With the eliminations here indicated, much time can 
be saved for more important school work, and the quality 
of the really fundamental arithmetical instruction can at 
the same time be materially improved. 

Language Work 

This subject is also allotted a large amount of time in 
the Butte schools, its total time allotment being the same 
as that for arithmetic. The city outline for the work of 
the first three grades is good, better in fact than the in- 
struction seen. From the fourth to the sixth grades the 
work is based on a textbook on language usage, and in 
the seventh and eighth grades on a textbook in technical 
grammar. 

Despite the large amount ot time given to the subject, 
the work seen, in both oral and written English, was quite 
uniformly poor throughout the schools. The children 
seemed to lack both ideas to express and form for expres- 
sion. The oral-language work seen consisted largely of 
an attempt to reproduce what the children had just read 
from a book; it lacked individuality and reality; it often 
meant little or nothing to the child ; and often it was poorly 
expressed, with poor pronunciation and accentuation. It 
seemed, too, to lack in sincerity and feeling, as though 
the child were expressing words, rather than ideas, and 
complying with a task set by the teacher rather than giv- 
ing expression to ideas and feelings he had come to have. 
This condition extends throughout the grades, in prac- 
tically all of the schools, and even up into the high-school 
classes. 

In the written tests given by the different members of 



126 Problems in City School Administration 

the Survey commission, in the four upper grades of the 
ten largest elementary schools, as explained more in detail 
in Chapter IX, the results obtained were also very poor. 
The compositions revealed the same lack of thinking, power 
of analysis, and ability to express oneself which was so 
prominent a characteristic of the oral work seen. 

That the large number of foreign-born and non-English- 
speaking children found in some of the schools contrib- 
ute somew^hat to this condition, in the lower grades, may 
be taken for granted, but this fact serves only to accentu- 
ate the need for more careful and more concrete English 
instruction here. Other cities which have this problem to 
face meet it squarely, and eliminate this difficulty as early 
as possible in the child's school course. 

The real difficulty lies, rather, in the methods and 
courses of instruction followed in the Butte schools. The 
work in language is taught entirely too much as a subject 
by itself, instead of being made a natural outgrowth of 
the other school work. The work of the grades through- 
out, characterized as it is by a lack of constructive and 
concrete work and an overemphasis on drill and book learn- 
ing, does not offer the child the real experiences necessary 
for good English expression. The attempt is made through- 
out the schools to secure expression when the child has 
little that is real and concrete to express. Impression must 
precede expression, and ideas must be given children be- 
fore the attempt is made to force from them sentences ex- 
pressing ideas. Reproduction of what has just been read 
from a book is too unreal to prove very effective as a basis 
for training in the use of the English tongue. 

The work of the schools of Butte needs to be made 
more real and concrete, and to be more closely connected 
with real life experiences. The general introduction of 
the kindergarten, the introduction of constructive activities 
throughout the grades, better recognition of the play 
activities of children, the provision of good work in nature 
study and elementary science throughout the grades, a 



The Courses of Study 127 

material reduction In the amount of mere book work now 
required, and an improvement of the teaching methods, as 
outlined in Chapter VII, would in a short time materially 
change the character of both the oral and written expres- 
sion of the children in the schools of Butte. 

The textbook in language in use in the fifth and sixth 
grades Is not a very good one for language study, and 
should be supplemented by some more suitable book. If 
a simpler and much more concrete book were introduced 
for use in the fourth and fifth grades, and then the state 
text. Book One; Language, were used as a basis for work 
in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, it would be a' 
much better arrangement The Book Tzvo; Gramniar, 
should be deferred entirely until the high-school period. 
It is a sheer waste of time to attempt to teach the technical 
material which it contains to children of elementary school 
age, and, in addition, a knowledge of the technical gram- 
mar it contains is of little use to anyone except to a school 
teacher who may be required to teach it. The present 
emphasis on technical grammar in the grades serves largely 
to defeat the ends for which English is supposed to be 
taught in our schools. Instead, the emphasis should be 
placed on composition and expression, based on feeling 
and real experiences. This feeling and experience must 
be drawn from other sources than the anatomical analysis 
of the English language. 

The course of study in language needs to be rewritten, 
along the lines here suggested. 

Reading and Literature 

The work In reading in the first grade is well done, 
and generally so in the second grade. The phonic drill 
in the first two grades seemed to be quite thorough. How- 
ever, though some good beginnings are made in these two 
lower grades, the work seems to fail to get results as the 
child passes on to the upper grades. Drill, rather than 



128 Problems in City School Administration 

use and application, seems early to dominate the work in 
reading, and, in the upper grades, the work soon becomes 
formal and mechanical, the children pronouncing the words 
rather than reading with expression or feeling. Poor posi- 
tion while reading, poor pronunciation and enunciation, 
lack of expression or appreciation — these seemed to be the 
more common characteristics of the work in reading and 
literature in the middle and the upper grades. The idea 
of formal drill, rather than expressive reading, seems soon 
to dominate the instruction. While much good literature 
is read, the appreciation of good literature seemed almost 
entirely absent. The reading heard, the reciting of the 
poems learned, and the questioning by the teachers, all 
seemed to fail to bring out the spirit of the selections. 
In the upper grades it was markedly reading drill, rather 
than literary appreciation. 

There is need of much more attention being given to 
reading method, and means for developing literary apprecia- 
tion. The formal drill idea, which so characterizes the 
work in the Butte schools, needs to be subordinated here 
to that of literary appreciation, and the present drill work 
needs to be changed to a drill on articulation and expres- 
sive reading. The selections to be memorized might be 
better graded and improved, and their rendition made 
more effective. Good examples of expressive reading, too, 
should be put, from time to time, before the children, and 
a list of choice selections, to be read by the teachers to the 
classes, should be compiled. The supplemental reading 
could be improved by the addition of a number of easy 
books dealing with historical events and containing in- 
teresting biographical stories. The present supplemental 
reading is too exclusively literary in type. 

Home Reading Books 

The school ought also, as an important part of its work 
in instruction in reading, to strive to develop a taste for 



The Courses of Study 129 

good books on the part of the children. In a city of the 
type of Butte this is quite important. The experience of 
other communities has been that, unless this is done before 
the eighth grade is reached, it is seldom possible to do it 
afterward. The work should begin by the time the third 
grade is reached and should continue throughout the grades. 
To this end the school, the public library, or the two com- 
bined, should provide a large collection of well-selected 
children's books for school use. An average of twenty 
books to a classroom is not too many, though all class- 
rooms need not be supplied with sets of the same books 
throughout. Some interchange of books between schools 
would be both economical and desirable. 

The greatest danger in providing such books for chil- 
dren is that they may be selected by adults, with adult ideas 
as to what children ought to read, and the whole purpose 
in providing them be lost. The advice of the best chil- 
dren's librarians, in cities which have made a success of 
this work, should be sought before any purchases are made. 
When purchased these books should be placed in the school- 
rooms; it should be a part of the work of the teachers to 
awaken an interest in them and to develop a taste for good 
reading; and the lending of these books to the children 
should be under the control of the classroom teachers. 
From three to four thousand dollars as an initial expendi- 
ture, with from seven to eight hundred added each year, 
would prove of great service in forming the literary tastes 
of children in this community, if good selections of books 
were made. 

History and Civil Government 

In connection with the work in reading and literature, 
reading of a historical nature should be introduced much 
earlier than is now done. Biographical stories and his- 
torical stories, w^ith strong emphasis on the personal ele- 
ment, as distinct from the event, should be introduced as 
supplemental reading, and as a basis for oral language 



130 Problems in City School Administration 

work of a kind which the children will scarcely recognize 
as such. Birthdays of famous men and national holidays 
should be celebrated, local history should be introduced, 
and an effort should be made to awaken a historical sense 
in children, so that they may gradually come to feel some- 
thing of the spirit of history. The work in the earlier 
grades should be very concrete, the personal story being 
the important element, but with a gradual shifting of the 
story from the hero to the events surrounding the hero. 
The work should be correlated with reading, geography, 
and oral language, and the assignment of lessons, the 
memorization of texts, and formal drill on facts should be 
completely absent from the work. The work of the teacher 
is sympathetically l^o reinforce the story and to awaken 
and enrich the mind of the child. Of such work the Sur- 
vey commission saw almost none in the schools of Butte, 
and they recommend that, in the revision of the courses 
of study, such work be prominently introduced into the 
lower grades and that the teachers be given training to en- 
able them to handle such work properly. 

In the formal work in the teaching of United States 
history, the Mace's Primary History is a good book for 
5 A and 6 B work, but Gordy's American Beginnings in 
Europe is too difficult, and is unsuited as a book to follow 
the Mace. If the Gordy is to be used at all it should be 
placed in the 8 A grade, and made to follow, rather than 
precede, formal study of United States history. The Mace 
is even better adapted to the sixth grade than to the fifth. 

The work in history in the seventh and eighth grades 
could be improved by outlining, in some detail, a course of 
study based upon topics, with reference to a number of 
texts and supplemental books rather than basing it on 
pages in a single book. The Gordy history could be con- 
tinued as the basal textbook, but supplemented largely from 
other sources. The book contains too many unimportant 
details and unrelated facts, — details and facts which no 
child should be expected to learn, — ^and many of these 



The Courses of Study 131 

should be neglected in the study. The awakening of an 
appreciation for history and a historical spirit, rather than 
a continual drill on the memorization of facts and dates, 
should be made prominent features of the work. 

Geography 

This, one of the richest and most interesting of all 
studies, seemed to the members of the Survey commission 
to be very poorly done in the schools of Butte. No prep- 
aration of much consequence is made for it in the first 
two years, through nature study and oral language. The 
work is begun in the third grade by formal study from 
a textbook. Home Geography for Primary Grades. The 
work, as seen, was bookish to a high degree, and consisted 
largely of reading and reproducing the words of the text- 
book. The book itself contains little that is not given, in 
better form, in the book used in the fourth grade, and its 
use as a textbook in geography in the third grade is not 
recommended. If used at all it should be as a supplemental 
reader, and even then very sparingly. 

Instead, the work in this grade, and in part in the fourth 
grade also, should be oral, concrete, and applied. Bookish 
geography at this stage is little better than no geography 
at all. The course ought to be outlined in some detail, 
and be in a way an outgrowth of the work in nature study 
in the grade below. The common home and outdoor ex- 
periences of the children should be utilized in the forma- 
tion of geographic conceptions. The work in the later 
grades should apply the conceptions gained to the recogni- 
tion and interpretation of geographic elements met with 
in the study of the world. 

In a community such as Butte, with its wealth of geo- 
graphic material within sight, there is little excuse for be- 
ginning the study of home geography from a book. The 
schools should be supplied with sand boards and compasses, 
sand-board models should be made and studied, out-of-door 



132 Problems in City School Administration 

excursions should be taken, weather observations should be 
made and recorded, the immediate locality should be studied 
and mapped, the occupations of people should be studied, 
and talks about industries and articles of food should be 
conducted with the children. A course of study for the 
third grade, based on a good course in nature study in 
the two grades below and adapted to Butte, could be out- 
lined which would prove far more profitable than any text- 
book study can ever be, not only in awakening an appre- 
ciation for and an understanding of geographical facts, 
but in developing thinking and reasoning and facility in 
oral expression on the part of the children. 

The work of the fourth and fifth grades is well out- 
lined, and a good textbook is in the hands of the pupils, 
but in the sixth and seventh grades it is unfortunate that 
a change has to be made to another type of textbook, by 
another author, instead of continuing with the advanced 
book by the same author. This is one of the unfortunate 
results arising from the adoption of uniform textbooks for 
a whole state. If Butte, as a city of the first class, could 
adopt its own textbooks, selections better adapted to its 
needs could, in a number of cases, be made. 

The advanced geography in use is too largely physical 
geography, and in parts too difficult for the grades in which 
it is used. To insure better work a topical course of study 
for the upper grades should be outlined, and teachers should 
be supplied with copies of the advanced Tarr and Mc- 
Murry Geography, and sets of the Dodge Geographies, as 
well as with more supplemental geographical material. All 
third and fourth grade rooms should also be supplied with 
sand tables, for developmental work, and many pictures 
for geographical teaching should be provided. 

Nature Study and Science Instruction 

It is in natural-science instruction that the Butte ele- 
mentary schools are perhaps weakest. Excepting a little 



The Courses of Study 133 

weather observation In the first and second grades, and 
work in health and physiology in the upper grades, practi- 
cally nothing is done. Yet few subjects could be intro- 
duced which, if well taught, would be of more value to 
Butte children, or which would do more to develop reason- 
ing power on the part of the children, than a good course, 
running throughout the grades, in the study of natural ma- 
terial and scientific phenomena. This should begin with 
nature study in the lower grades, be closely correlated with 
home geography and hygiene in the third and fourth grades, 
and involve simple studies of animals, plants, the stars, 
health lessons, and physical phenomena in the upper grades. 
In the study of simple problems in light, heat, sound, 
electricity, magnetism, and geological and chemical action, 
splendid opportunities can be had for developing clear 
thinking and good oral expression, as well as teaching in- 
formation of large practical value. The Survey commis- 
sion recommends that such work be outlined and gradually 
introduced i,nto each school. 

Spelling 

The work In spelling In the schools is worthy of much 
commendation. As shown by the tests taken, and explained 
at length in Chapter IX, the children of Butte are much 
above the average of other cities tested in their ability to 
spell. It is in such a subject as spelling that the drill, so 
characteristic of the Butte schools, reaches its maximum 
efficiency. The criticism which the commission would offer 
is that oral spelling is begun too early In the grades, and 
that the drill is made too mechanical. 

Writing 

The Palmer method of penmanship, which Is used in 
Butte, produces very good results when skillfully used. 
It is subject to serious abuse, however, by teachers who do 
not understand the principles underlying habit formation. 



134 Problems in City School Administration 

Excellent skill in making running ovals and the like may 
be acquired, without the corresponding skill in handwrit- 
ing. While much very good writing is done in Butte, the 
great difference observed in the merit of the writing done 
in various rooms indicates that there is need for the subor- 
dination, by many of the teachers, of drill exercises to 
practice in leal writing. 

Music 

Some of the music heard was good, though on the other 
hand some of it was poor. It is the judgment of the 
Survey commission that much too little is made of music 
in the Butte schools. More time should be given to the 
work, and more musical appreciation should be developed 
in the children. One very important function of music 
instruction is the development of musical appreciation on 
the part of the children, and to this end they should fre- 
quently be permitted to hear good examples of musical 
composition, and of a type suited to their years and their 
ability to appreciate. The teachers and principals are to 
be commended for securing phonographs for the schools, 
but the phonographs are supplied with far too few records. 
The Board of Trustees should now supply each school with 
a large number and a well-selected assortment of musical 
records, and these instruments should then be put into daily 
use in the classrooms. Some examples of simple violin 
and orchestra music should also be included in the records. 
The same care in selecting these records as is recommended 
above for library books should be exercised, or many un- 
suitable records will be obtained. 

If, as probably is the case, there are teachers in certain 
schools who cannot intelligently and appreciatively teach 
music, the teaching of music in these schools should be 
somewhat specialized, and some teacher having musical 
ability should be temporarily exchanged with such teachers 
for this instruction. In each large school, too, glee clubs, 
choruses, an orchestra, and perhaps a band could be or- 



The Courses of Study 135 

ganized with advantage, not only to the music work in 
the schools, but to the advantage of the home life of the 
community as well. A city becomes musical and derives 
the many advantages arising from good music only when 
its children are provided with the necessary opportunities 
for developing their native love of music. 

Drawing 

The drawing in the schools shows that the supervisor 
of drawing has made an earnest effort to develop the 
subject. The work examined was good average school 
work, but it showed much of the same lack of originality 
and power of expression which characterizes much of the 
other work found in the schools. Until the teachers in 
Butte can have had some professional training for their 
work, it is perhaps too much to expect any important im- 
provement in the work of drawing in the schools. 

Play and Physical Training 

Seldom have the members of the Survey commission 
examined a school system where so little account was taken 
of the play activities and physical training of the children. 
The physical welfare of children is dealt with more at 
length in another chapter (Chapter XI), and the need of 
better playgrounds is pointed out in Chapter III. At this 
point the Survey commission desires only to recommend 
that more attention be given, in the course of study, to 
proper physical exercise and the development of the play 
activities of the children. 

(2) MANUAL AND HOUSEHOLD INSTRUCTION IN THE ELE- 
MENTARY SCHOOLS 

The work in manual training in the elementary schools 
of Butte is to be commended in the following particulars: 



136 Problems in City School Administration 

1. Quality of workmanship. As far as it goes, the 
quahty of the work done is better than that in a number 
of cities as large as Butte, or larger. 

2. The teaching staff. The teachers are well prepared 
for the work, and are making intelligent and efficient use 
of the facilities afforded them. 

3. Eqiiipment. The equipment is for the most part of 
good quality, and well adapted for the kind of work under- 
taken. 

This department needs to be strengthened, however, in 
the following particulars: 

1. Increase in time allotment for the work. 

2. Extension of the work throughout all the grades. 

3. Introduction of new lines of work. 

4. Additional centers and equipment. 

5. Emphasis on content value and the thought element 
in the work in manual arts. 

6. New type of supervision. 

7. Household arts for the girls. 

Time Allotment 

The most serious need to be met in the development 
of an adequate scheme of handwork for the elementary 
schools of Butte is a material increase in the amount of 
time set aside for this purpose. The revision of the courses 
of time study suggested in the preceding page, and the 
elimination there recommended, will make the necessary 
increase possible. The minimum amount of time should 
be one half day per week through the first six years, and 
two half days per week in the seventh and eighth years, 
with a flexible arrangement which will permit a principal 
to organize special classes, particularly for backward chil- 
dren, in which from one fourth to one third of the pupils' 
school time may be devoted to drawing and shopwork of 
various kinds. 



The Courses of Study 137 

Extension of the Handwork 

The second important need of the schools is the ex- 
tension of the work in the manual arts down through the 
grades. 

The introduction of kindergartens, as suggested else- 
where by the commission, will lay the foundation for the 
development of a comprehensive scheme of handwork. 
This should be followed through the first four grades by 
a number of simple lines of handwork, in which boys and 
girls will receive substantially the same instruction. From 
the fifth grade on, differentiation between the work of 
boys and girls should be sought, with the aim of meeting 
the special needs of each. 

Nezv Lmes of Work 

A substantial increase in the time allotment, and the 
extension of the department throughout the grades, will 
make possible the introduction of several new lines of work 
and the enrichment of those that are now offered. 

The work in the first four grades should involve a 
considerable variety of materials and processes, adapted 
to the requirements of the course of study as finally de- 
veloped and to the particular needs of the .children of this 
community. These lines of work should include paper 
and cardboard work, textiles, basketry, weaving, and draw- 
ing. For the fifth and sixth years there* should be pro- 
vided, in addition to the knifework and coping-saw work 
now in the schools, opportunities for boys for work in 
elementary bookbinding, printing, and work in clay, cement, 
and plaster. 

In the seventh and eighth years the boys should carry 
still furtlier the work in printing and bookbinding, and 
there should be added problems in copper, brass, leather, 
and benchwork in wood. The woodwork might well in- 
clude some simple framing and carpentering, and all of 
the work should be made as practical as possible. 



138 Problems in City School Administration 

Additional Centers and Equipment 

The Survey commission is of the opinion that the pro- 
vision of a manual-training center for each large elementary- 
school in the district would be a wise expenditure of funds. 
For each of the schools having eight grades such a center 
should ultimately provide facilities for all the lines of 
work which have been suggested, while the centers for 
those schools having less than eight grades may have some- 
what less complete equipment. 

The shop for the boys' work should present an appear- 
ance somewhat different from that of the usual shop center. 
Its function should be that of a laboratory in which real 
problems may be considered and solved, rather than as a 
place for instruction in the making of a formal set of 
models. The equipment should include perhaps a half- 
dozen woodworking benches, a few benches for simple 
metal work, a small printing plant, the necessary tools and 
appliances for bookbinding, and equipment for work in 
clay, cement, and leather, and for freehand and mechanical 
drawing. 

The Thought Side of Manual Training 

In the suggestions herein made as to the extension of 
the work in manual training, the members of the Survey 
commission have in mind something quite different from 
the simple addition of mechanical processes and manipula- 
tive technique. It would be better not to disturb the exist- 
ing conditions than greatly to increase the amount of time 
devoted to handwork, if it is to mean simply the intro- 
duction of formal courses of models or exercises in the 
various lines of work. Too often the problem as it con- 
fronts the boy or girl has been analyzed by the teacher, for 
purposes of logical presentation, to the point of extracting 
all the elements involving thought or initiative. This is 
the path of least resistance, and "courses" of models are 
its natural result. 



The Courses of Study 139 

The ideal of a series of problems which must be at- 
tacked and solved by the pupils, even formulated by them 
wherever possible, is one difficult of attainment under the 
limitations imposed by program routine ; nevertheless, it 
is an ideal toward which public school work in the manual 
arts is undoubtedly tending. It requires no discussion to 
show that work of this type means the maximum of interest 
and profit for both pupil and teacher. 

Supervision Needed 

The introduction of the various lines of work suggested 
will require considerable special preparation on the part of 
the regular grade teachers, as well as on the part of the 
shop teachers. For this reason the new lines of work must 
be introduced gradually. Provision must be also made for 
a new type of supervision, which for a time at least will 
take the form of training the teachers in the methods and 
purposes of the work. To secure satisfactory results the 
teachers should have a certain amount of time designated 
for the purpose of this special preparation, and the super- 
visors should have the assistance of practical mechanics 
in the various lines of work for such periods of time as 
may be necessary. 

Household Arts for Girls 

One of the most serious defects in the public school 
system of Butte, in the opinion of the Survey commission, 
is the failure to make any adequate provision for training 
girls in the household arts. Only sewing in the sixth, 
seventh, and eighth grades is now offered. By their negli- 
gent attitude in this matter, the public schools of Butte are 
neglecting one of the most important and most alluring 
opportunities to influence favorably the life of this com- 
munity. 

The work in cooking, sewing, and the elements of home- 



140 Problems m City School Administration 

care and home-management should begin not later than the 
fifth grade, and should be carried through the eighth. The 
attempt should be made to deal specifically with just such 
practical problems as the girls of this community are 
obliged to meet In their own homes. The school cannot 
deal with problems that are more important than the man- 
agement of the family income, the care of the home, the 
preparation and serving of food, the making and care of 
clothing, home sanitation and hygiene, and the care of in- 
fants and children. There can be no question that the 
foundations of this work. If It Is to affect the communit/ 
life, must be laid in the elementary schools. 

Household Art Centers 

At first thought there may be some objection to the 
recommendation of the commission with reference to 
special provision for girls' work, because of the lack of 
room in the present school buildings. This lack of room, 
however, may prove to be an advantage rather than other- 
wise, as the Board of School Trustees may be obliged to 
look elsewhere for accommodations. The recommenda- 
tions for a central intermediate school, made in this chap- 
ter and in Chapter III, if carried out, would also solve the 
problem by freeing two or three rooms in each large build- 
ing, one of which could then be used for the purpose. 

One of the most promising solutions of the problem of 
a center for girls' work is that of renting or buying a small 
cottage or apartment in the neighborhood of a number of 
the larger schools, these to be utilized as household-arts 
laboratories.^ By this plan the work of the girls is carried 
on under conditions that correspond much more closely to 
those of the home, to which it all relates, than can possibly 
be the case in the school laboratory, and, In addition, there 

1 The details of this plan have been carefully worked out by Mrs. 
Ada Wilson Trowbridge, director of girls' work in the public schools 
of Providence, R. I., in The Home School; Boston, Houghton Mifflin 
Company, The Riverside Monograph Series, 1913. 



The Courses of Study 141 

are encountered the numerous practical problems in fur- 
nishing, decorating, and repairing in the solution of which 
the boys of the shopwork classes can cooperate. It is diffi- 
cult to overestimate the extent of the influence which 
the school may exert in the community through such an 
approach to the real problems of homemaking. 

(3) INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLS 

Possible Reorganizations Recommended 

All that has been said so far with reference to the 
courses of study in the elementary schools has been said 
on the assumption that the present scheme of organization 
of the schools, viz., eight years of elementary school, taught 
by grade teachers, and four years of high school, taught 
by specialized teachers, is to be continued unchanged. If 
the schools were reorganized, however, as recommended 
in Chapter III, into six years of elementary school, three 
years of intermediate school, and three years of high 
school, as has been done in many communities, the inter- 
mediate schools to comprise the seventh, eighth, and ninth 
grades and to be taught by departmental methods and by 
specially trained teachers, a much better rearrangement of 
the school work and much stronger courses of study could 
be provided. This plan is outlined at some length in 
Chapter III, on the School Plant and Equipment; at this 
point the Survey commission desires only to point out the 
educational advantages of the plan. 

Educational Advantages of the Plan Recommended 

At present all children in Butte are carried along to 
the age of fourteen or fifteen — that is, through the eighth 
grade — by means of the same plan of instruction, viz., the 
grade-teacher system. Each teacher teaches all the sub- 
jects of the grade, something which, in the two highest 



142 Problems in City School Administration 

grades at least, very few teachers are able to do with any 
degree of satisfaction. The present courses of study, too, 
seem to have been framed on the assumption that the same 
kind of training is equally satisfactory for all classes of 
children. The idea that it is a part of the business of the 
public school to study and provide for differing capacities 
in children seems never to have taken root here. The 
attempt, in many of our school systems, of teachers to 
teach everything in the upper grades, and to put all children 
through a uniform course of instruction, is the chief rea- 
son why the least effective school instruction so frequently 
is found in these upper elementary school grades. 

Of the gradual differentiation in tastes, capacities, and 
future needs and possibilities of children, which is gradu- 
ally taking place, the grade-teacher system in the upper 
grades takes but little account. After the sixth grade the 
indications of differing educational needs begin rapidly to 
manifest themselves, and call for a differentiation in 
instruction and a change in the character and methods of 
teaching, if the best educational results are to be obtained. 
Instead of uniform courses for all children in the school, 
different courses, somewhat similar to be sure, ought to 
be offered to test out tastes and capacities and to meet 
the different educational needs of different types of boys 
and girls in the schools, and more specialized methods in 
instruction should now be employed. 

Hozu the Intermediate School Meets the Special Needs 
of the Upper Grades 

These changing needs the intermediate school attempts 
to meet, by creating a school which is, as its name signifies, 
intermediate both in position and in the character of its 
instruction between the elementary grade school on the 
one hand and the specialized high school on the other. In 
addition to a very material improvement in the quality of 
instruction in the seventh and eighth grades, it provides 



The Courses of Study 143 

better courses of instruction for the children in these 
grades, makes easier the transition to the secondary school, 
and materially reduces the heavy mortality which so com- 
monly occurs in the first year of the ordinary high school. 
The present radical change in the character of instruction 
between the elementary school and the high school, which 
occurs now at the age of fourteen or fifteen, is both 
wasteful and artificial. The change should be made more 
gradually, and the time for the change to begin is when 
the child is passing from childhood into youth, which is 
at the beginning of the period of adolescence. This, how- 
ever, is at the age of twelve or thirteen, rather than at 
fourteen or fifteen. The transition at present is both 
delayed and abrupt, whereas, by the insertion of the inter- 
mediate school In between the elementary school and the 
high school, the change is made easier and more gradual, 
and with much better educational results. 

The great argument for the intermediate school, how- 
ever, lies rather in the resulting improvement in the quality 
of Instruction and in the adaptations to individual capaci- 
ties and needs which results from the provision of inter- 
mediate-school training. It offers to pupils the advantages 
of departmental work; it offers the possibility of options, 
in the matter of both studies and courses of study; it per- 
mits of the adaptation of Instruction to the needs of the two 
sexes; it tends to postpone for a year the age of leaving 
school; and It offers opportunities for the development of 
a type of vocational work not possible imder the present 
plan of grade-school organization. 

Possible Courses of Study for Intermediate Schools 

To illustrate the possibilities of the intermediate school, 
and to show better Its advantages over the grade school 
as an educational institution, we give the outline of two 
possible courses of study which would be adapted to the 
needs of the children in the Butte schools. 



144 Problems in City School Administration 



INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL COURSES 
1. General Course 

(Primarily for those intending to go to high school, and to enter the 
classical or scientific courses) 

Seventh Grade 



Required Subjects per wfek 

English Literature and Compo- 
sition 5 

United States History 5 

Descriptive Geography 5 

Arithmetic 5 

Physical Training 2 

Drawing 2 

Music 2 , 

Girls, Cooking 2 ! 

Girls, Sewing 2 \ 

Boys, Manual Training 4i 



Elective Subjects 



Periods 
per Week 

Select one of the following: 

Latin 5 

German 5 

Spanish 5 

Bookkeeping and Business 
Arithmetic 5 



Eighth Grade 



Required Subjects per Week 

English Literature and Compo- 
sition 5 

United States History and Civics 5 

General Science 3 

Physiology and Hygiene 2 

Drawing 3 

Music 2 

Physical Training 1 

Girls, Cooking 2 

Girls, Sewing 2 

Boys, Manual Training 4 



Elective Subjects 



Periods 
per Week 

Select one of the following: 

Latin S 

German 5 

Spanish 5 

Bookkeeping and Business 

Arithmetic 5 

Mathematics : 

Elementary Algebra, 8 B 5 

Constructive Geometry, 8 A. . 5 



Ninth Grade 



Required Subjects per wflk 
English Literature and Compo- 
sition 5 

Physical Geography 5 

Music or Oral English- 2 

Physical Training 1 



Elective Subjects p?r wflk 

Select two of the following: 

Latin 5 

German 5 

Spanish 5 

(Two languages only by 
special permission) 

Algebra 5 

Ancient History 5 

Drawing — Freehand or Me- 
chanical 5 

Girls, Cooking or Sewing 4 

Boys, Woodwork 4 



The Courses of Study 

2. Vocational Course 

(Primarily for those not intending to go to high school) 

Seventh Year 

Elective Subjects 



145 



Required Subjects 
Same as General Course. 



Periods 
per Week 

Select one of the following: 

German 5 

Spanish 5 

Bookkeeping and Business 
Arithmetic 5 



Required Subjects 



Eighth 

Periods 
per Week 

English Literature and Compo- 
sition 5 

United States History and Civics 5 

General Science 3 

Physiology and Hygiene 2 

Physical Training 1 

Girls, Freehand Drawing 5 

Girls, Cooking and Sewing.... 10 

Boys, Mechanical Drawing 5 

Boys, Manual Training 10 



Year 

Elective Subjects per wflk 

Select one of the following: 

German 5 

Spanish 5 

Bookkeeping and Business 

Arithmetic 5 

Mathematics : 

Elementary Algebra, 8 B 5 

Constructive Geometry, 8 A.. 5 
Music 2 



Ninth Year 



Required Subjects 



Periods 
per Week 

English Literature and Compo- 
sition 5 

Physical Training 1 



Elective Subjects per Week 

Select three of the following: 

German 5 

Spanish 5 

General World History 5 

Physical Geography 5 

Music or Oral English 2 

Girls — 

Freehand Drawing 5 

Cooking or Sewing 5 

Elementary Chemistry 5 

Boys — 

Mechanical Drawing 5 

Elementary Physics 5 

Manual Training 5 

Both— 

Stenography 5 

Typewriting 5 

Business Practice 5 



146 Problems in City School Administration 

In addition to providing instruction better suited to 
individual needs, as these have manifested themselves 
before entering and during the intermediate period, the 
different courses serve also to test the tastes and interests 
and to bring out the possible capacity of the different pupils, 
so that, when the high school is reached, it will be possible 
to determine intelligently, instead of by the present hap- 
hazard method, w^hat line of interest the pupil would best 
attempt in the high school or whether the pupil should 
attempt a high-school course at all. At the same time the 
differences in the intermediate-school courses are not so 
marked but that a pupil may change his or her course both 
during and at the close of the intermediate-school period. 

Difficulties in Inaugurating the Plan 

The intermediate-school plan, notwithstanding its 
many important educational advantages, is not easy to 
inaugurate. In the first place, the ordinary grade teacher 
and the ordinary elementary-school principal are usually 
not prepared successfully to inaugurate such a new school. 
Teachers for such work should have at least partial college 
or university training, and some teaching experience; 
besides, they should also have broad human interests and 
large human sympathies. If the plan were inaugurated 
in Butte, such of the present corps of teachers as are 
selected for the work should be given an opportunity and 
be expected to make proper preparation for such instruc- 
tion by summer study or college work. 

In the third place, there would be some objection, at 
first, from parents whose children would have to travel a 
longer distance to a central school. For the children com- 
ing from the more distant schools the Board of Trustees 
probably ought to provide transportation. Finally, the 
plan would cost somewhat more than the present arrange- 
ments. The cheapest kind of a school is a poor school; 



The Courses of Study 147 

improvements in education always cost more money. The 
increased efficiency, though, of the reorganized school 
would more than compensate for the increased expenditure. 
In Chapter III, on the School Plant and Equipment, 
the Survey commission goes more into detail as to the 
location of a central intermediate school, and to that sec- 
tion the reader is referred for more detailed information 
with regard to the plan. 

(4) THE HIGH SCHOOL 

The different members of the Survey commission 
visited a number of the classes in the high school, and 
examined into its equipment and work. The high school 
as an institution impressed the different members as a very 
good school, but somewhat of the traditional type. The 
teachers seemed to be well prepared, and, with minor excep- 
tions, to be doing a very satisfactory grade of work. Due 
in part to the better education and training of the teachers, 
and in part to the somewhat superior class of pupils who 
remain in school through the high-school period, the work 
in the high school impressed all of the members of the 
Survey commission as much the best thing, educationally, 
that they saw in Butte. 

The work in the different subjects of instruction 
seemed to be well organized and presented, and in most 
of the subjects of instruction a reasonably satisfactory 
teaching equipment has been provided. The library 
facilities are totally inadequate, and the possibilities for 
scientific instruction in this community, especially in 
physiography and geology, have not been utilized. The 
technical work of the school — manual work, domestic 
training, and commercial work — seemed to be in a very 
satisfactory condition. The equipment is adequate for the 
work now undertaken, and the courses of instruction 
seemed to be as well adapted to the needs of the pupils as 



148 Problems in City School Administration 

conditions will at present permit. Each of these technical 
departments seemed to be awake to the necessity of a con- 
stant study of the needs of boys and girls in Butte, but 
the statistics presented in Chapter VI would indicate 
(Table XVI) that, for some reason, the technical work 
has not as yet made a very strong appeal to the pupils in 
the school. 

The general criticism which the Survey commission 
would pass upon the high-school work is that it is too 
limited in scope, though any material expansion of the 
work of the school is almost impossible in the present 
already overcrowded building. As is pointed out in Chap- 
ter III, on Buildings and Equipment, the present high- 
school building is so poorly adapted to the needs of a 
modern high school that it would be a wise policy to turn 
the building into a central intermediate school, for the 
entire city, and to build a new high school, large enough 
to permit of the proper expansion of the high-school 
work. A large, centrally located high school, built on a 
full block of land instead of on a corner, and with good 
laboratories, a gymnasium, and an assembly hall attached, 
could easily be made the most important institution in this 
city for the education of the whole people. 

In such a building many day and evening technical 
courses could be developed which would be of inestimable 
value to the working classes of Butte ; the work of the high 
school in literary and historical lines could be improved; 
and the science courses in the school could be materially 
expanded and strengthened. With a well-organized inter- 
mediate school beneath the high school, and a larger and 
better equipped high-school organization, this school could 
in a short time exert a community influence which will 
never be possible for the present high school. A day- 
school attendance of 1,500 students, and an evening-school 
attendance of 2,000 youth and adults, is not too much 
to expect for such a school; With day and evening classes, 



The Courses of Study i49 

a good auditorium for public meetings and lectures, good 
laboratories, a good working library, and a good gym- 
nasium, such a high school could profoundly influence the 
home life, the spiritual life, the commercial and industrial 
life, the trades and occupations, and the intellectual and 
civic future of Butte. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF PUPILS 

'T^HE surest means of evaluating any element of the 
"*■ work of a school system is by measuring the results 
secured. The Survey commission, therefore, sought to 
measure the achievements of the children in the Butte 
schools in spelling, composition, handwriting, and the 
fundamental operations in arithmetic, as a means of veri- 
fying and supplementing their observations of the subject- 
matter and methods of instruction followed in the schools. 
By using standardized tests and scales for these measure- 
ments it was possible to make comparisons of the achieve- 
ments of the pupils in Butte with those of pupils in other 
cities. It was possible, also, to determine the amount of 
progress being made from grade to grade in the schools 
of Butte, and the range of ability represented by the mem- 
bers of a given class. It was, of course, impossible to test 
all of the pupils in the city, but in the case of each of the 
subjects a sufficiently large sampling of children from the 
several grades was tested to make the conclusions valid for 
the city as a whole. 

(l) SFELLING 

The Spelling Tests 

It is not easy to determine just what words ought to 
be taught to children. One thing is certain: The list of 
words should be limited, as far as possible, to those words 
which the children will be called upon to use in their writ- 
ten language. Until such lists are derived, we should at 

150 



The Achievements of Pupils 151 

least avoid all uncommon words In the spelling lessons. 
In line with this notion, the Survey commission used as 
a test in spelling, ten words for each grade, from the 
second to the eighth inclusive, chosen from a list of one 
thousand words most commonly used in English writing. 
All of the words were within the common understanding 
of the children, and familiar enough to appear in the 
written work of pupils of the respective ages. The lists 
of words used were derived by Dr. Leonard P. Ayres, of 
the Russell Sage Foundation, and used with his courteous 
permission. The method by which the ten words for each 
grade were selected from the long list was as follows: 
Under the direction of Dr. Ayres the long list of words 
was given throughout the grades of twenty-two city school 
systems. Naturally, certain words were found which 
approximately 70 per cent, of the children of a given grade 
were able to spell correctly. For example, the word **foot" 
was spelled by 70 per cent, of second-grade children, and 
missed by 30 per cent. Dr. Ayres selected ten such words 
for each grade. Thus the average rating on each word 
which appears in the lists below, was 70 per cent, for the 
twenty-two cities, as judged by the ten words finally 
selected. The standing of any school system in spelling 
may fairly be judged, in comparison with these twenty- 
two cities, by how much its several grades stand above 
or below 70 on the average. 

The Word Lists Used 

The following words, selected as indicated above, were 
pronounced by the respective teachers to seven or eight 
classes in each of the grades: 



152 Problems in City School Administration 



Second 


Third 


Fourth 


Fifth 


Grade 


Grade 


Grade 


Grade 


foot 


fill 


forty 


several 


get 


point 


rate 


leaving 


for 


state 


children 


pubHsh 


horse 


ready- 


prison 


o'clock 


out 


almost 


title 


runnmg 


well 


high 


getting 


known 


name 


event 


need 


secure 


room 


done 


throw 


wait 


left 


pass 


feel 


manner 


with 


Tuesday 


speak 


flight 



Sixth 


Seventh 


Eighth 


Grade 


Grade 


Grade 


decide 


district 


organization 


general 


consideration 


tariff 


manner 


athletic 


emergency 


too 


distinguish 


corporation 


automobile 


evidence 


convenience 


victim 


amendment 


receipt 


hospital 


liquor 


cordially 


neither 


experience 


discussion 


toward 


receive 


appreciation 


business 


conference 


decision 



Scoring of Papers 

After these words were pronounced, and any explana- 
tion given by the teacher necessary for their proper under- 
standing by the children, the papers were collected and 
the misspelled words were marked by the teacher. The 
markings were checked by members of the commission. 
The standings of the several classes were then determined 
by taking the average of the standings of the pupils in any 
given room. These average room standings are given 
in Table XVIII. 



The Achievements of Pupils 153 

TABLE XVIII 
Standings of the Several Grades in Spelling Arranged by Schools 





Schools by Numbers 


Av 




I 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 




Grade 2 . 


89 
72 
75 
77 
66 

75 
84 


79 
86 
72 
76 


73 
77 
87 
80 

74 
80 
82 


78 
84 
77 
78 


79 
86 
81 
73 


80 
88 

77 
76 


98 
75 
73 
91 
73 
74 
91 


89 
80 

78 
88 
82 
78 
82 


86 
82 

84 


93 

88 

80 


86 2 


Grade 3 


81 8 


Grade 4 


78.7 
84. 5 

76.2 
89.4 


Grade 5 

Grade 6 

Grade 7 

Grade 8 


Average 


76.5 


78.4 


78.5 


79.1 


79.1 


81.0 


81.2 


82.8 


84.1 


88.4 


80.3 



The ten schools in which the tests were given are 
designated in the table by numbers.^ The average of all 
the pupils tested in any building is given at the foot of 
the column for that school, while the average of all the 
pupils of a given grade tested in the city is given at the 
right of the table. 

The Results 

From this table it will be observed that in every room 
except one the children averaged considerably above the 
standing of 70. This fact is clearly brought out in the 
graphical representation of this table in Figure 14. In this 
figure the upper line represents the average standing of 
the best class in each grade, while the lower line represents 
the average of the weakest class in each grade. The dotted - 
line between shows the average for each grade, while the 
heavy line at 70 represents the standing in twenty-two 

lA key by which to determine the school corresponding to any 
given number will be left at the office of the City Superintendent. 

It may be noted that the rooms selected for testing in this, as in 
other subjects, were determined by the order in which the teachers' 
names appeared in the teachers' directory. A uniform method was 
used by all members of the commission, thus avoiding anything but 
a random selection of rooms. 



154 Problems m City School Administration 



PER CENT. 
100 



90 



80 



70 



60 



50 



40 



30 



20 



10 




HIGHEST ^ 
■AVERAGE 



-LOWEST 



^ AVERAGE FOR 
SCHOOLS IN 
22 CITIES 



2 3 4 5 6 7 8 GRADES 

Fig. 14. Results of Spelling Tests 

This figure represents the range from the poorest to the best room 
tested in each grade in spelling. For example, the poorest second- 
grade room averaged 72), while the best second-grade room averaged 
98.^ The average for the whole city is represented by the dotted line, 
while the average for 22 cities is represented by the heavy line at 70. 



The Achievements of Pupils 155 

cities. This furnishes evidence of the efficient drill \vork 
done throughout the system, and supports the commenda- 
tion given to this type of work in the section of this report 
dealing with the Quality of Instruction, Chapter VII. 

While the schools and rooms are high, on the average, 
a condition is revealed by closer analysis of the results 
which should have attention. Of the 1,504 children 
tested, 326 spelled every word correctly. On the other 
hand, 278 children made a standing of 60 or less. This 
wide variation in ability to spell raises the question 
whether the drill work in spelling is really being adapted 
to the pupils, or whether the drill is not being given to all 
children alike, regardless of whether they are all in equal 
need of such drill. 

(2) COMPOSITION 

The Composition Test 

The same children who took the spelling tests (omit- 
ting the second and third grades) were asked to write 
English compositions. The directions for the test were 
given to the children by a member of the Survey com- 
mission. In order to give all children an equal chance to 
write the best compositions of which they were capable, 
the members of the commission agreed beforehand upon 
the subject to be used, the sort of directions to be given, 
and the amount of time which would be allowed. The 
subject used was: 

''How I would spend one hundred dollars, to please 
five persons, who like different things." 

The subject was chosen because it seemed to provide 
equal play for the imaginative powers of all the children. 
After the subject was written upon the blackboard, the 
children were allowed a few minutes to ask any questions. 
They were told to treat the subject in any way they fancied, 
just so that they made an interesting story out of it. They 
were allowed twenty-two minutes in which to write. 



156 Problems in City School Administration 

Scoring the Papers 

After the compositions were thus written and collected, 
each one was stamped with a code number, indicating 
building and grade, and then the whole lot shuffled so as 
to mix thoroughly the papers from the various schools and 
grades. This done, they were ready for scoring. 

The teachers of the city were then called together to 
mark the papers. About one hundred teachers were 
engaged in rating compositions under the direction of a 
member of the Survey commission. The Hillegas Scale^ 
for measuring the merit of English compositions was used 
as a basis for scoring. This scale consists of ten com- 
positions printed one below the other in the order of their 
merit. The three at the lower end of the scale were selected 
from samples artificially constructed by adults in order to 
secure compositions of zero or nearly zero value. All of 
the others were selected from a large number of composi- 
tions written by young people. The scale represents ten 
practically equal steps of merit because, in the opinion of 
over a hundred competent judges who read eighty-three 
of the compositions, these ten were most nearly of equal 
difference from each other in merit. Teachers compared the 
children's compositions with the compositions appearing on 
the scale. When they had decided which one on the scale 
most nearly corresponded in general merit to the one they 
were rating, they marked the composition at O, i, 2, 3, etc., 
according to which one of the printed compositions they 
thought it most like. 

The papers were all scored thus by the teachers. Mem- 
bers of the commission examined enough of the marks to 
assure themselves that the scoring was fairly done. The 
papers were then reassembled into room groups, and the 
scores transcribed. 

The distributions of the marks given to pupils of the 
various grades are recorded in Table XIX. 

^ 1 Milo B. Hillegas, A Scale for the Measurement of English Compo- 
sition. Teachers College Record, New York, 1912. 



The Achievements of Pupils 



157 



TABLE XIX 
Distribution of Composition Scores by Grades 





Grades 




4 


S 


6 


7 


8 




Rated at 


3 
79 
66 

30 

3 


I 
46 
86 

49 

18 

I 


31 
^7 
65 
35 
23 
6 


i 

68 
19 

7 

2 


I 

9 

32 

39 

43 

22 

6 

2 




Rated at i .... 




Rated at 2 




Rated at 3 

Rated at 4 




Rated at 5 




Rated at 6 




Rated at 7 




Rated at 8 




Rated at 9 








Total papers .... 


181 


201 


227 


262 


154 


1.025 






Median score 


2.34 


2.80 


3-41 


3-77 


4. II 









Note. The true values, statistically determined, of each step of the scale, 
are not exactly represented by the digits at the left of the table. The 
true values are: o, 1.83, 2.60, 3.69, 4.74, 5.85, 6.75, 7.72, 8.38, and 
9-37. 

While there was considerable variation among the 

classes making up each grade group, this table of totals is 

essentially typical of the performance of each class. It will 

be observed that, of the 181 fourth-grade children tested, 

3 wrote papers rated at o, 79 wrote papers rated at the first 

step above o, 66 wrote papers rated at 2, and so on. The 

median score (that point in the distribution of marks below 

which half the papers fall, and above which half the papers 

fall, being practically the same as the average) for the 

fourth-grade group is seen to be 2.34 on the scale from 

o to 10. The median scores for each of the grades is seen 

to be: Median 

Scores 

Fourth Grade 2.34 

Fifth Grade 2.80 

Sixth Grade 3.41 

Seventh Grade 2-77 

Eighth Grade 4.11 



158 Problems in City School Administration 

The low scores, as well as the slight gain from grade 
to grade, is apparent. 

A very wide range of ability in each grade is revealed 
in the table. One eighth-grade pupil wrote a composition 
rated at o, while two pupils wrote papers rated at 7 on the 
scale of 10. The eighth-grade group range rather evenly 
over all the steps of the scale from i to 6. This wide 
variation of ability represented in each of the grades is 
clearly brought out in the accompanying figure. There we 
see that some fourth-grade pupils surpass the median ability 
of eighth-grade pupils, while many eighth-grade pupils fall 
below the median ability of the fourth-grade pupils. 

Typical Compositions Written by Butte Children 

Before commenting upon these results, It may be well 
to consider how much merit a composition has when rated 
a-t the successive steps from o to 10. This can best be told 
by reproducing compositions written by the children in 
Butte, which were rated by the teachers at the several points 
on the scale. In selecting these samples, effort was made 
to secure the ones most typical of the marks assigned to 
them by the teachers. 

Sample i, rated at i (that is, the first step above o) ; writ- 
ten by a sixth-grade boy, 14 years old. 

'T would by each person twenty dollars worth the goods, 
or I would give each person twenty dollars. If I would 
spend the one hundred dollars between the five persons, I 
would buy each one a suit of clothes, shoes, stockings, Caps, 
Over Alls and Jumper." 

Sample 2, rated at 2; written by a seventh-grade girl, 13 
years old. 

"If I had a hundred dollars I would divid it between 
five people. I would give $20 to the one who like every- 
thing, $5 to the one that liked nothing and $10. to on who 



The Achievements of Pupils 



159 




8^" GRADE 

W^>7777m -^ 



7TH GRADE 



^^^/^y^yy^yy/yy/j 



6^" GRADE 



5^" GRADE 



4"^" GRADE 



SCORES 



Fig. 15. Results of Composition Tests 

This figure represents the percentage of children in the several 
grades who made the given scores in composition. For example, 1.7% 
of the fourth-grade children wrote compositions scored at 0; 43.8% 
of the fourth-grade children were scored at 1 ; etc. By following the 
median lines, the overlapping of ability from grade to grade is dis- 
closed. 



l6o Problems in City School Administration 

liked Arithmetic and $33 to the one for spelling, and $32 
for the one who liked Geography." 

Sample 3, rated at 3; written by a fifth-grade girl, 12 years 
old. 

"If I had one hundred dollars, I would take five per- 
sons up to symons and spend twenty dollars on each per- 
son, and they could have anything they liked to buy. After 
they had bought what they wanted, I would ask them if 
they were pleased ? and if they said no I would tell them to 
go back and change the dry-goods, that they had bought 
and buy exactly what they really wanted, or needed, and 
if they were not satisfied then I could do no more for them 
because my hundred dollars would be spent." 

Sample 4, rated at 4; written by an eighth-grade boy, 14 
years old. 

"If I had one hundred dollars to spend to please five 
persons I would first kind of figure out what the things a 
certain five persons would like best. 

"First I would buy my cousin what he wished, that is 
a good baseball outfit. It would cost about ten dollars for 
the playing materials such as gloves, bats, etc. Then I 
would get him a five dollar baseball suit and cap to match. 
He would like a lot of candy and fruit and such things so 
I would spend another five for that. 

"Second I would by my brother a good fishing outfit 
consisting of a five dollar pole, a one dollar, line, two 
dollar, reel, two dollars worth of hooks, five dollar pair of 
boots, two dollar fishing coat, a dollars worth of leaders 
and two dollars for a trip to some good fishing place. 

"Third I would fit myself out in the same way. 

"Fourth I would get my father a morrison chair for 
ten dollars, and a smoking jacket for ten more. 

"Fifth as I have no mother I would get my aunt a new 
hat with ten dollars and a new silk dress with the rest of 
the money." 



The Achievements of Pupils i6l 

Sample 5, rated at 5; written by an eighth-grade girl, 15 
years old. 

"There are five little children that live near us who are 
very poor. They seldom have any new clothes and less 
often any toyes. 

''On Christmas and other days when we children have 
toys these children may be seen looking at us with longing 
eyes, and Easter time they even seem envious. 

'Well I would first buy each child a pair of shoes about 
three and one half dollars. Then I would buy the girls, 
three of them, new dresses. The boys new suits. Which 
would cost about thirty dollar. Of course the girls would 
have to have hats. I would get simple ones but pretty. 
Then the boys must have caps " 

Sample 6, rated at 6; written by an eighth-grade girl, 14 
years old. 

"If I had one hundred dollars to spend for persons who 
liked different thing, I would spend about one-half of the 
sum for a short camping trip for myself and parents. 

"With the remainder of the money I would buy a few 
good books and other articles I desire. I would use part of 
the money for spending money throughout the summer, 
and, if after this, there were any of it left I would use it 
for things I needed at the beginning of school." 

Sample 7, rated at 7; written by a seventh-grade girl, 13 
years old. 

"I read a pamphlet once upon how to spend money 
wisely, in benefiting other people, so as I have received 
$100.00 I intend to spend it wisely. 

"Yesterday I went to a German family, who were 
strangers here, having just come from Germany, and needed 
help very badly. The mother was a kind motherly looking 
woman, who I know I could depend upon, so giving her a 
check for $40.00 for clothing and food, I departed, leaving 
their faces shining with relief and gratitude. 



i62 Problems in City School Administration 

"That evening, coming home I met two ragged, but 
clean looking children, one of them crying very bitterly, so 
stopping I asked them what was the matter, the little girl 
said, *I am looking for a doctor.' Then she began crying. 
I took her and the little boy home with me, which was 
not very far away, and then I told her to tell me all about 
it. Mother fell down the cellar this morning, and broke 
her arm, she sent me for the doctor, but I cant find him, 
and if I did we wouldn't be able to pay for it." 

There were no compositions rated higher than 7 by the 
teachers, even though, on the whole, their marks were 
liberal. 

Evaluation of the Composition Work 

A study of the table giving the ratings upon composi- 
tions written by the children of Butte, along with an ex- 
amination of the sample compositions reproduced to illus- 
trate the merit of each position on the scale, reveals four 
facts which are worthy of note: 

First, the composition work is formal, rather than free 
and imaginative. 

Second, the marks fall low on the scale, throughout the 
grades. While no standard of achievement has yet been 
established with which to compare the ratings of the several 
grades in Butte, certain fifth-grade classes in Maryland have 
been found to average 5.15 as compared with 2.80 for the 
fifth grades in Butte. Also, certain seventh-grade classes 
in Maryland and New York City have been found to aver- 
age 5.75 to more than 7.0, as compared with 3.76 for the 
seventh grade in Butte.^ 

Third, there is relatively little growth from one grade to 
the next, the median score being raised less than two points 
from fourth to eighth grade. 

Fourth, the wide variation in ability among the children 

IF. J. Kelly, Teachers' Marks, Their Variability and Standardisa- 
Uon, Teachers College Contributions to Education; New York, 1914. 



The Achievements of Pupils 163 

in any one grade raises the question here which was sug- 
gested in connection with spelHng, whether due attention 
is being given to the individual needs of the children, or 
whether the instruction is not being given to all members 
of the class alike, regardless of whether such instruction 
leaches the children's individual needs. 

The marked contrast between the excellent results in 
spelling and the results in composition probably means that 
the formal side of instruction is being stressed at the ex- 
pense of initiative and self-expression on the part of the 
pupils. In no other phase of school work is the harmful in- 
fluence of repressing the child's individuality more clearly 
reflected than in his written language. Practice in express- 
ing thoughts zvhich are his own is the only way by which a 
child can develop the power to write and speak good Eng- 
lish. Repeating from memory facts in geography, history, 
or science is not closely related to the task of organizing 
one's own thoughts. Even a thorough knowledge of all 
the rules of grammar does not insure the writing of good 
English. 

(3) PENMANSHIP 

The Penmanship Tests 

To secure specimens of handwriting by which to judge 
of the efficiency of the penmanship work done in the schools, 
all of the teachers in the elementary schools above the first 
grade were asked to have the children write, as carefully 
as they could, a familiar stanza which the teacher wrote on 
the blackboard. Afterwards, the children were to write the 
same stanza over and over again for four minutes, as rap- 
idly as they could, ''still zvriting zuell/' In the following 
discussion, only the careful writing will be considered, be- 
cause it appears from an examination of the speed-writing 
specimens that the time limit was not carefully observed 
by some of the teachers. 

The papers were collected and stamped with a code 



164 Problems in City School Administration 

number by which to Identify the building and grade. About 
a third of the papers from each room were then shuffled 
so as to mix thoroughly the papers from the various build- 
ings and grades. About eighty teachers then scored the 
papers under the direction of a member of the Survey com- 
mission. 

Scoring the Papers 

The Thorndike Scale^ for the measuring of handwriting 
was used as a means of scoring the papers. This scale con- 
sists of reproductions of samples of handwriting, ranging in 
merit from o to 18. At most of the points on the scale two 
or three samples of different styles of writing are repro- 
duced. The samples were selected, because in the opinions 
of many competent judges the differences in merit between 
the samples appearing at the successive steps on the scale 
are approximately equal. When the teacher rating a paper 
determined to which one of the samples on the scale the 
child's paper most nearly corresponded in merit, she marked 
the paper with the score attached to that sample on the 
scale. Thus the papers were all rated between o, which was 
completely illegible, and 18, which was practically perfect 
handwriting. 

The Results 

In Table XX, given on the next page, are given the dis- 
tributions of the scores made by the pupils of the successive 
grades from second to eighth inclusive. 

It will be observed from this table that the median 
scores for the several grades are as follows: 

Second Grade 8.2 

Third Grade 8.0 

Fourth Grade 8.8 

Fifth Grade 8.9 

Sixth Grade 11.6 

Seventh Grade 11.2 

Eighth Grade 12.1 

1 E. L. Thorndike, Handwriting. Teachers College Record : March, 
1910. 



The Achievements of Pupils 



165 



TABLE XX 
The Distributions of vScores in Penmanship by Grades 



Scores 



Grades 



o 

I 

2 

3 

4 

S 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

II 

12 

13 

14 

IS 

16 

17 

18 

Total papers . . 

Median scores 



S 
22 
21 
29 
28 
42 

7 
29 

5 
7 



2 

2 

21 

44 

86 

41 



3 
16 

24 
42 

55 
20 
21 

IS 

2 

3 

I 



3 
3 

12 
56 
61 
16 
17 
IS 
6 

4 



2 
I 

20 
25 
9 
32 
44 
17 
10 

9 

10 

6 

3 



3 

IS 
29 
II 

25 
12 

19 

16 

6 

12 

2 

I 



196 



194 



152 



I 

3 

7 

IS 

I 

23 
21 

9 

9 

IS 

17 
3 



:24 



.2 



8.0 



8.9 



II. 6 



II. 2 



12. 1 



This indicates a rather singular irregularity in the prog- 
ress made from grade to grade. Of the 3.9 points improve- 
ment from the second to the eighth grade, 2.y points are 
made between the fifth and sixth grades.^ There is no cer- 
tainty, of course, that this should not be so. If, however, 
there is a particular period in the development of the child 
at which habits, such as handwriting, can be so much more 
readily fixed than at other times, then drill should be cur- 
tailed at other points and concentrated upon that period. 

1 This may be partially accounted for by the fact that No. 10 on the 
scale has only one specimen representing that degree of merit, while 
the steps on either side of it have more than one specimen. There- 
fore, judgments tend to bunch up both above and below 10. 



l66 Problems in City School Administration 

The problem Is so clearly indicated in these results that ef- 
fort should be directed toward its solution by further in- 
vestigation. 

As in spelling and composition, a very wide range of 
abilities in penmanship is found in each grade. This is best 
represented in Figure i6.^ Some children in the second 
grade surpass the ability of the median eighth-grade pupil, 
while some in the eighth grade fall below the median 
second-grade pupil. This variability may be accounted for 
by two facts : 

First, some classes average much better than others in 
the same grade. For example, one second-grade class aver- 
aged 5, while another second-grade class averaged ii. In 
the same way one eighth-grade class averaged 9, while an- 
other eighth-grade class averaged 16. 

Second, the observation of members of the commission 
while they were visiting the schools did not disclose any case 
where practice in penmanship was limited to those in the 
class who needed it. The children who could write very 
well were spending the same time as the others upon exer- 
cises. 

One other feature of the penmanship deserves attention. 
The letters which are formed out of the much practiced 
oval are nicely made by the children, as a rule. The gen- 
eral character of the writing, however, reveals a lack of 
control of letter forms. It would seem that, in many cases, 
practice in writing words and sentences as they occur in the 
regular daily work of the pupils is not given the attention 
it deserves. The formal drill on muscular exercises is 
overemphasized. This does not mean a condemnation of 
the muscular-exercise drill, but it does mean its subordina- 
tion to the exercises in real writing. 

1 This figure represents the percentage of children in any grade who 
attained each of the given scores in penmanship. For example, of the 
second-grade children, 2.4% wrote papers scored at 4; 11% of the 
second-grade children were scored at 5, etc. Note that the median 
mark for the successive mark changes little at any other point than 
from fifth to sixth grades. 



The Achievements of Pupils 



167 



M12.1 I 




SCORES 12 3 4 5 6 7 6 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 

Fig. 16. Results of Penmanship Tests 



i68 Problems in City School Administration 

(4) ARITHMETIC 

The Arithmetic Tests 

As a measure of the achievements of the children in 
arithmetic, the Courtis Standard Tests^ (Series B) in the 
four fundamental operations, and the Stone Reasoning 
Problems,^ were used. They were given in two j-ooms in 
each of ten buildings. The following numbers of classes 
were thus examined, selected at random: 

5 5B classes 

5 5A classes 

5 6B classes 

7 6A classes 

3 7B classes 

3 7A classes 

4 8B classes 

5 8A classes 

Following are the lists of examples and problems as 
they were given to the pupils. They were printed on good 
paper so that the children did not have to copy the figures, 
but simply did their work on the sheets which contained the 
examples. Blank paper was provided on which to solve the 
reasoning problems. The following time limits were fol- 
lowed exactly in all of the rooms: 

For addition, 8 minutes. 
For subtraction, 4 minutes. 
For multiplication, 6 minutes. 
For division, 8 minutes. 
For reasoning, 15 minutes. 

IS. A. Courtis, Standard Tests, 82 Eliot St., Detroit, Mich. 
2 C. W. Stone, Arithmetical Abilities and Some Factors Determining 
Them. Teachers College, Columbia University, 1908. 



The Achievements of Pupils 



169 



Addition 



927 
379 
756 
837 
924 
110 
854 
965 
344 



297 

925 

473 
983 
315 
661 
794 
177 
124 



136 

340 
988 
386 
353 
904 
547 
192 
439 



486 
765 
524 
140 
812 
466 
355 
834 
567 



384 
477 
881 
266 
679 
241 
796 
850 
7ZZ 



\76 
783 
697 
200 
Z66 
'851 
535 
323 
229 



277 
445 
682 
594 
481 
778 
849 
157 
953 



837 

882 
959 
603 
118 
781 
756 
222 
525 



537 


664 


634 


572 


226 


351 


428 


862 


695 


278 


168 


253 


880 


788 


975 


159 


471 


345 


717 


948 


663 


705 


450 


383 


913 


921 


142 


529 


819 


174 


194 


451 


564 


787 


449 


936 


779 


426 


666 


938 


932 


646 


453 


223 


123 


649 


742 


433 


559 


433 


924 


358 


338 


755 


295 


599 


106 


A(A 


659 


676 


996 


140 


187 


172 


228 


449 


432 


122 


303 


246 


281 


152 


677 


223 


186 


275 


432 


634 


547 


588 


464 


878 


478 


521 


876 


327 


197 


256 


234 


682 


927 


854 


571 


327 


685 


719 


718 


399 


516 


939 


917 


394 


678 


524 


838 


904 


923 


582 


749 


807 


456 


969 


293 


353 


553 


566 


495 


169 


393 


761 


423 


419 


216 


936 


250 


491 


525 


113 


955 


756 


669 


472 


^2,Z 


885 


240 


449 


519 


314 


409 


264 


318 


403 


152 


122 



Subtraction 



107795491 
77197029 

160620971 
80361837 

115364741 
80195261 

64547329 
48813139 

92971900 
62207032 

137769153 
70176835 



75088824 
57406394 

51274387 
25842708 

67298125 
29346861 

121961783 
90492726 

104339409 
74835938 

144694835 
74199225 



91500053 
19901563 

117359208 
36955523 

92057352 
42689037 

109514632 
81268615 

60472960 
50196521 

123822790 
40568814 



87939983 
72207316 

47222970 
17504943 

113380936 
42556840 

125778972 
30393060 

119811864 
34379846 

80836465 
49178036 



170 Problems in City School Administration 





Multiplication 




8246 


3597 


5739 


2648 


9537 


29 


73 


85 


46 


92 


4268 


7593 


6428 


8563 


2947 


37 


640 


58 


207 


63 


5368 


4792 


7942 


3586 


9742 


95 


84 


72 


36 


59 


6385 


8736 


5942 


6837 


4952 


48 


502 


39 


680 


47 


3876 


9245 


7368 


2594 


6495 


93 


86 


74 

Division 


25 

37)9990 
68)43520 
94)67774 


19 


25)6775 


94)85352 
49)31409 


86)80066 


73)58765 


52)44252 


37)14467 


86)60372 


25)9750 


68)39508 


49)28420 


52)21112 
39)32760 


73)33653 


28)23548 


54)48708 


67)61707 



45)33795 



76)57000 



93)28458 



82)29602 



Reasoning Problems 

1. If you buy 2 tablets at 7 cents each and a book for 65 cents, 
how much change should you receive from a two-dollar bill? 

2. John sold 4 Saturday Evening Posts at 5 cents each. He kept 
1/2 the money and with the other ^ he bought Sunday papers at 2 
cents each. How many did he buy? 

3. H James had 4 times as much money as George, he would have 
$16. How much has George? 

4. How many pencils can you buy for 50 cents at the rate of 2 
for 5 cents? 

5. The uniforms for a baseball nine cost $2.50 each. The shoes 
cost $2 a pair. What was the total cost of uniforms and shoes for 
the nine? 

6. In the schools of a certain city there are 2,200 pupils; J^ are 
in the primary grades, H in the grammar grades, % in the high school, 
and the rest in the night school. How many pupils are there in the 
night school? 



The Achievements of Pupils 171 

7. If ^Vi tons of coal cost $21, what will SYz tons cost? 

8. A ncAvs dealer bought some magazines for $1. He sold them 
for $1.20, gaming 5 cents on each magazine. How many magazines 
were there? 

9. A girl spent ]4, oi her money for car fare, and three times as 
much for clothes. Half of what she had left was 80 cents. How much 
money did she have at first? 

10. Two girls receive $2.10 for making buttonholes. One makes 
42, the other 28. How shall they divide the money? 

11. Mr. Brown paid ^^ the cost of a building; Mr. Johnson paid 
;/$ the cost. Mr. Johnson received $500 more annual rent than Mr. 
Brown. How much did each receive? 

12. A freight train left Albany for New York at 6 o'clock. An 
express left on the same track at 8 o'clock. It went at the rate of 
40 miles an hour. At what time of day will it overtake the freight 
train if the freight train stops after it has gone 56 miles? 

The peculiar virtue of these lists of examples in the 
fundamentals lies in the fact that they are so devised that in 
each example of a given sort there are an equal number of 
combinations called for, and these include similar assort- 
ments of difficult and easy combinations. Because of this 
fact, it is just as much of an achievement to work one as 
it is to work any other one. Therefore, the child who 
works ten has achieved exactly twice as much as the child 
who has worked five. 

In the reasoning problems the same principle holds ex- 
cept that, instead of all of the problems being of equal 
difficulty, an assigned value has been worked out experi- 
mentally for each one, so that it is possible to say how much 
more credit should attach to the correct solution of one than 
to the correct solution of another. 

This being the case, it follows that, if the same time be 
given to the several pupils, the number of examples com- 
pleted in the fundamentals, or the score in reasoning, fur- 
nishes a fair basis of comparison between the achievement 
of one child and that of another, or of one class with that 
of another. It is not claimed that these tests cover all that 
teachers are expected to teach in arithmetic, but it is claimed 
that successful teaching in arithmetic cannot be done with- 
out developing skill in the fundamental operations and' 
ability in the simple, everyday forms of reasoning. 



172 Problems in City School Administration 

Scoring the Papers 

The marking of the papers in the fundamentals was 
done, also, by a group of teachers under the direction of a 
member of the Survey commission. Printed answer sheets 
were provided each teacher, and every example was checked 
as either right or wrong. No credit was given for an an- 
swer which was only partially right. The reasoning prob- 
lems were scored by members of the commission. 

The Results 

In the Tables XXI, XXII, and XXIII are given the 
distributions of the number of examples worked cor- 
rectly by the children of the various grades. The B and 
A classes are combined for each group, in order to make 
the results comparable with the return from other cities 
reporting by grades. From these tables we see that there 
is a fairly steady gain from grade to grade in both funda- 
mentals and reasoning. At the same time, there are seen 
to be 12 pupils in the fifth grade, 15 in the sixth grade, 5 in 
the seventh grade, and 4 in the eighth grade who could not 
finish one example in addition correctly in eight minutes. 
A similar situation is revealed in the other fundamental 
operations. 

While these children above mentioned were not able to 
finish a single example, there were others who completed 
twice as many as the average members of the class. This 
holds true for every operation in the fundamentals and for 
reasoning problems as well. This condition must result in 
a very great waste of time during arithmetic periods where 
so often all of the members of the class wait for the slow 
ones to complete the problem before new work is assigned. 
Considerable improvement can be effected if the work in 
arithmetic is varied for the members of the class so as to 
give each child, as far as possible, the sort of work which he 
most needs. It is one of the sources of greatest waste in 
our schools today that we give to all the children of a class 



The Achievements of Pupils 
TABLE XXI 



173 



The Distributions of the Number of Examples Correctly Finished 
IN THE Given Time by Pupils in the Several Grades 



Addition 



No. of Exam- 
ples Finished 



o. 
I 

2. 

3- 
4 
5- 
6. 

7 
8. 

9 

10. 
II. 
12. 

13- 
14. 

11; 

17- 

18. 

19- 
20. 
21. 

22. 



Total papers. 157 



Median scores 3 . 4 



186 119 II 



3-9 4-3 5 



Subtraction 



No. of Exam- 
ples Finished 

o 

I 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

II 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 



ISS 



6.0 



I8s 



6.3 



I 

2 

7 

9 

9 

12 

12 

II 

12 

9 

5 

7 

3 

2 

I 

I 

4 
2 
I 



119 III 



7.6 10.3 



the same work, without considering whether a large number 
of the class might not profit much more by doing something 
else. There is less excuse for giving uniform instruction 
and work to the members of a class in arithmetic, than in 
most of the other subjects. 

It must not be supposed that effort should be made to 
bring all the members of a class to the same standard of ex- 
cellence in any subject. We are not urging that teachers 



174 Problems in City School Administration 
TABLE XXII 

The Distributions of the Number of Examples Correctly Finished 
IN THE Given Time by Pupils in the Several Grades 



Multiplication 



No. of Exam- 
ples Finished 



o 

I 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

II 

12 

13 

14 

IS 

i6 

17 

i8 

19 

20 

21 

22 

Total papers . 
Median scores 



156 



4.6 



184 



5-5 



7.0 



III 



8.6 



Division 



No. of Exarri' 
pies Finished 

o 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

12 

13 

14 

IS 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 



156 



187 



4.8 



7.7 



4 
2 
6 
7 
4 
8 

9 
6 

13 
7 

10 

10 

4 

9 

2 

4 
2 

I 
I 
I 



II 



10.7 



attempt to produce equal skill in arithmetic among all the 
members of their classes. However, when some children 
now in the fifth grade far surpass already the average abil- 
ity of eighth-grade pupils, it is surely a waste of their good 
time to be doing the same arithmetic work which is best 
adapted to those members of the class who can complete 
no examples in the fundamental processes. To show clearly 
this overlapping of ability in the successive grades, Figure 



The Achievements of Pupils 175 

TABLE XXIII 

The Distribution of Scores Made by Pupils in the Several Grades 
Reasoning Problems 



Scores 


Grades 


5 


6 


7 


8 





30 
30 

?6 

21 

10 

8 

I 
I 

I 

I 


7 
20 
21 
30 
35 
24 

14 

12 

14 

2 

3 

I 
I 


2 
10 

13 

12 

17 

20 

14 

12 
6 
4 
4 
2 

3 




1 


I 


2 


2 


■5 


S 
5 

13 
14 


A 


t 


6 


7 


8 


Q 


10 


10 


10 


II 


7 
6 


12 


I-l 


4 
4 
I 


14. 


ic 


16::.; 








Total papers 


156 


186 


119 


III 






Median scores 


2.7 


4.4 


6.3 


8.2 







17 is given, representing the distributions of multiplication 
scores of the various grades. Any other one of the pro- 
cesses could have been used just as well to show how many- 
there are in each grade who surpass the average ability of 
the classes above them, or fall below the average of the 
classes below them. 

If we can turn the schoolroom into a sort of workshop 
where each child will be encouraged to seek out problems 
of keenest interest to himself, and where the teacher will 
seek to guide in the doing of those things most needful to 
him, we shall avoid some of the present evils of our lock- 
step system of instruction, where each child does just the 
same as every other child. 



176 Problems in City School Administration 



The question naturally arises whether the median score 
for the children of Butte is higher or lower than that 
achieved by children of the same grades in other cities. Mr. 
Courtis, the author of the tests in fundamentals used in 
Butte, has tested with the same examples and under the 
same conditions, 131 5 children in Detroit, 20,441 in Boston, 
and 3618 in other smaller places. Table XXIV gives the 
median scores made by the several grades in these cities, 
and along with them, the corresponding scores made in 
Butte. 

TABLE XXIV 

The Median Scores Made by Children in Detroit, Boston, a Group 
OF Smaller Cities, and Butte, in Working the Same Examples 
IN the Same Amount of Time 

Addition 









Grades 






5 


6 


7 


8 


Detroit 


39 
3-7 
3-9 
3-4 


4.6 
4-9 
4-4 
3-9 


4-7 
4-3 


6.7 


Boston 


7.8 




5.6 


Butte 


S-8 






Subtraction 


Detroit 


S-S 
4-9 
4-5 
6.0 


6.2 

6.1 

6.3 


7-3 
6.9 

7-^ 


9-5 
8.6 




Other cities 


8.4 
10.3 


Butte 








Multiplication 


Detroit 


3-8 
4.6 


4.8 
4-5 

5-S 


6.0 

S-i 
5-2 
7.0 


l-\ 


Bo'^ton . 


Other cities 


6.1 


Butte 


8.6 






Division 


Detroit 


2.7 

2.0 

2-3 

4.1 


4-4 
3-3 
4-3 
4.8 


7-1 
S-i 
5-8 
7-7 


8.8 


Boston 


6.9 


Other cities 


6.3 


Butte 


10.7 



The Achievements of Pupils 



177 



MULTIPtlCATION 
MEDIAN SCORES 
^10 K CO 



8"^" GRADE 




a 


SCORES 

Fig. 17. 



in the 



O 5 10 15 

. .^. .. . Representing the percentage of children 
grades making the given scores in multiphcation. For example //o 
of the fifth-grade children make a score of 0; 7% make a score of 1; 
etc. The overlapping of ability from grade to grade is clearly shown 



various 

7% 



178 Problems in City School Administratioji 

ADDITION ANSWERS SUBTRACTION 

11 



10 

























1 
i 
i 






1 / 
1 / 




y 

xy 


''A 




» 
\^^^ 


7 


7 


^ 


f 






















BUTTE 
DETROIT 
— . BOSTON 
OTHER 



5 



e 



8 GRADES 5 



Fig. 18. Representing the achievements of four groups of children, 
the Butte children being one group, in addition and subtraction. For 
example, in addition, the fifth-grade children of Butte average 3.4 
examples finished correctly in the time allowed; Boston averages Zl \ 
Detroit and the other group both average 3.9. 



The Achievements of Pupils 179 

MULTIPLICATION ANSWERS DIVISION 

It 

10 

























/ / 
/ / 




/ 


// 

' // 




/ 


/ 


#' 


>^ 




f 






f 

BUT 


TE — 


— 


Uh 1 

- BOS 

OTI- 


KOII 

TON — 


1 1 













1 






1 ; 
/ / 
/ / 
/ / 






/ * 




1 


/ 




1 / 

i / 


• 

/ 


^ 


// / 

V / 

/ 






/ 




7/ 

/ 



















8 GRADES 5 



Fig. 19, This represents the achievements of four groups of chil- 
dren in multiplication and division. To be read the same as Figure 18. 



i8o Problems in City School Admiitistration 

The facts of this table are clearly set forth In Figures 
1 8 and 19. It is clear that the results, so far as average 
or median score is concerned, are very satisfactory in 
Butte in the fundamentals. While Butte stands a little 
low in addition, and equal to or above the other cities 
in subtraction, the standings are high in multiplication 
and division. 

Unfortunately, so much cannot be said for the results 
in the reasoning problems. Here again the city is paying 
the price of too much formal work and too little inde- 
pendent thought work. The papers were full of errors, 
and of a sort which indicated a lack of clear thinking. To 
illustrate this point, attention may be called to one error 
which was made by scores of children in all the grades. In 
so easy a problem as No. 5, which reads: 

The uniforms for a baseball nine cost $2.50 each. The shoes cost 
$2.00 a pair. What was the total cost of uniforms and shoes for 
the nine? 

many of the children worked as follows: 

$2.50x9 equals $22.50 the cost of uniforms. 
$2.00x9 equals 18 the cost of shoes. 



$22.68 the total cost of uniforms and 
shoes. 

Errors of the same sort abounded In most of the sets of 
papers. The number of problems attempted in the various 
grades was high, but the score was brought down very low 
by the great number of errors. There were enough rooms 
which proved exceptions to this rule, however, to indicate 
that some teachers have been emphasizing clear thinking 
Instead of form work. 

More than half the children in the schools worked fewer 
than four of the problems in the fifteen minutes allowed. 
Other children, on the contrary, worked most of them, and 
often without the use of pencil at all for the majority of 
the problems. We cannot believe that such wide variation 



The Achievements of Pupils 

PROBLEMS INVOLVING REASONING 
MEDIAN SCORES 

5TH gTH JTH QTH 

27 4.4- 6^ 8.2 



l8i 



6^" GRADE 



SCORES 




10 11 12 13 14 15 



Fig. 20. Representing the percentage of children making the given 
scores in reasoning problems. For example, 10% of the fifth-grade 
children made a score of 0; 19% made a score of 1; etc. The lines 
representing the median scores for each grade tell about how many 
in each grade surpass the median scores for the grades above, and 
how many fall below the median scores for the grades below. 



1 82 Problems in City School Administration 

in ability would be found if the instruction were adapted to 
secure the development of the native ability in each child. 
In Figure 20 the amount of overlapping from grade to 
grade is clearly brought out, and we must here emphasize 
the urgent need for greater adaptation of the arithmetic 
work to the particular needs of the individuals making up 
any class group. 

(5) SUMMARY 

As has been pointed out in the sections of this report 
dealing with the Courses of Study, Chapter VIII, and with 
the Quality of Instruction, Chapter VII, drill work in the 
schools is strong. This observation is verified by the high 
standing w^hich the school system, as a whole, made in the 
tests in spelling, and the fundamental operations in arith- 
metic. Whether this drill work is done with the greatest 
economy of time and effort may be questioned a little in 
the light of the great variability which is present in the 
achievements of the members of the same class. No type 
of school exercise needs more careful adaptation to the 
individuals receiving it than does the drill lesson. 

Some excellent penmanship work is done in Butte. 
However, the system of penmanship now being employed 
requires keen insight into the fundamental principles of 
habit formation, if teachers are to avoid some serious mis- 
takes in its use. This insight is not universally shown by the 
teachers in the city. Excessive drill on the movement exer- 
cises, at the expense of daily practice in the writing of good 
papers, has led, in the case of many children, to failure of 
control over the muscles used in writing. The result is a 
general irregularity in letter formations and a domination 
of the forms used in drill exercises. Care upon this point 
will correct the work in many of the rooms which stand 
low. The penmanship will then be very satisfactory in the 
city as a whole. 

In composition, and again in reasoning, we see revealed 
the results of what is perhaps the most serious error in the 



The Achievements of Pupils 183 

teaching method now practiced in Butte. FilHng children's 
memories with textbook facts does not make independent 
thinkers of them. Opportunity for self-expression should 
be freely given in kindergartens, and as freely given in all 
the grades above. What children think out for themselves 
is the main source of strength in later intellectual life. Ex- 
cept as the information in the textbooks can be utilized 
as material for independent thinking, it is of slight value 
indeed. It is through contact v/ith nature in nature study 
and elementary science ; through self-expression in drawing 
real things, singing and composing real songs, making with 
the hands useful objects which the child has originated in 
his own mind ; and through making applications to the so- 
cial situation around him, of the materials of history, geog- 
raphy, mathematics, and the other studies; it is through 
these things that the powers within a child grow. Experi- 
ence In doing, and in independent thinking, furnishes the 
only adequate basis for expression. The solving of prob- 
lems in nature study, geography, and history, as wtU as in 
arithmetic, is the only satisfactory training for the develop- 
ment of ability in reasoning. 

In this connection it may be well to emphasize what has 
been said elsewhere in this report, concerning the influence 
of the examination system now in vogue in Butte. What- 
ever administrative device tends to encourage the getting 
of facts for the sake of facts, is almost certain to lead to 
undue emphasis upon formal instruction. Examinations 
should not be used in the elementary schools as a measure 
for determining promotion of pupils. As an illustration 
of the legitimate use of tests it may be interesting to cite the 
case of the Boston schools, where the progress in the funda- 
mentals in arithmetic was measured by giving the Courtis 
Tests in January, and then again in April. By reference 
to Figures 18 and 19 it will be noted that Boston was weak- 
est in division. That chart records the result of the Janu- 
ary tests. Knowing this weakness, the teachers sought to 
remedy it. As a result, while the average gain between 



184 Problcfus in City School Administration 

January and April was 2.1 examples in addition, 1.8 in 
subtraction, and 2.0 in multiplication, it was 2.7 examples 
in division. 

If, then, instead of using examinations to determine 
promotions, teachers and principals used forms of tests, 
such as the ones employed by the Survey commission, to 
determine how much progress is being made from year to 
year, and how much the weaker pupils are gaining, and the 
like, then the tests would be regarded as means of really 
helping the teachers to solve their problems. Then, too, 
both the teachers and the pupils would be glad to have the 
measure applied. 



CHAPTER X 

THE SUPERVISION OF INSTRUCTION 

'T^HE efficiency of a teaching corps depends not only upon 
■■• the professional preparation which the teachers may 
have had for their work, but also upon the adequacy of the 
supervisory corps with whom they work. The Survey com- 
mission studied carefully the present situation with respect 
to supervision by holding conferences with the Superin- 
tendent of Schools, the primary supervisor, the supervisors 
of special subjects, and with the principals of schools. Some 
member of the commission spent from one to four hours 
with each of the supervisors mentioned above. In some 
cases, as many as three members of the commission held 
conferences with the same supervisory officer. In addition 
to these conferences much light was thrown upon the prob- 
lem by a careful survey of the courses of study In use, and 
by means of conferences with teachers with respect to their 
needs and concerning their contact with the supervisory 
officers. 

It Is the chief business of the supervisory corps In any 
school system to continue the training which teachers may 
have had in preparation for their work. A teaching corps 
which is standing still can never be considered satisfactory, 
from a professional standpoint. Just as the doctor or 
lawyer must constantly keep In touch with the best work 
done In his profession, so the teacher, to be efficient, must 
be kept in touch with educational progress, and must ex- 
pect to grow in teaching power from year to year. Indeed, 
it Is safe to estimate that, under adequate supervision, the 
efficiency of teachers may be more than doubled after a 
short period of years. This is especially true, of course, 
of those who are young In the profession. 

185 



i86 Problems in City School Administration 

For convenience of discussion, the work of the super- 
visor may be considered under the following heads: 

1. The demonstration of methods of teaching. 

2. The criticism of instruction given by teachers. 

3. The securing of the participation of teachers in the 

development of supervisory and administrative 
policies. 

4. The measuring of the achievements of pupils. 

DEMONSTRATIONS OF METHODS OF TEACHING 

For a large majority of those who engage in teaching, 
the most effective means to be employed in developing right 
methods of teaching is to be found in the demonstration 
of successful methods, together with a discussion of their 
validity. An efficient principal of a school will often seek 
to strengthen the work of a teacher by teaching a class, 
and then, at some later time, holding a conference with the 
teacher she desires to help. In this way it will be possible 
not simply to say to the teacher, ''Do as I do," but also to 
point out the validity of the particular method demon- 
strated and to discover wherein may lie the difficulty of 
understanding for the teacher whom the principal desires 
to help. 

In many school systems, teachers who do excellent work 
are asked to teach before a number of their colleagues. 
After such lessons for observation are held, the teacher 
who does the work, and those who have observed, meet for 
discussion, in order that all may gain an insight and appre- 
ciation of the strength or weakness of the lesson taught 
under the guidance of the supervisory officer. It has been 
found advantageous in many school systems to have teach- 
ers visit in each other's rooms. This may prove profitable 
when the supervisory officer knows where to send the 
teacher who is to get help, and when the teacher knows 
that she is expected to report back, to the supervisory offi- 
cer, her thought with respect to the teaching observed. 



The Supervision of Instruction 187 

CRITICISM OF INSTRUCTION 

Supervisors may help teachers through careful and sys- 
tematic criticism of their classroom teaching. A principal 
can often secure the confidence of the teachers with whom 
she works by showing appreciation of the strength which 
she has discovered. It is of course not enough to say that 
work is good, in order to capitalize the success of the 
teacher. The principal, or other supervisory officer, must 
indicate clearly the validity of the particular exercise com- 
mended in terms of principles of teaching, which are made 
clear to the teacher. With this foundation laid in appre- 
ciative criticism it will be possible for the supervisor to point 
out weaknesses in the work which has been observed, and 
to suggest again, in terms of fundamental principles, recom- 
mended changes in method. Many exceptionally capable 
teachers need the help which can be given by the super- 
visor who suggests, by virtue of larger experience and 
broader professional outlook, possibilities of achievement 
which had never occurred to the teacher. This suggestive 
criticism may often be the means of keeping alive pro- 
fessionally a teacher who might otherwise cease to be in- 
terested or enthusiastic in her work. 



COOPERATION OF TEACHERS IN DEVELOPING SCHOOL 
POLICIES 

Successful supervisory officers are learning that it is 
advantageous, in so far as it is possible, to secure the par- 
ticipation of teachers in the development of supervisory 
and administrative policies. For example, in the making of 
the courses of study, the contribution of the teacher of the 
grade is just as important as that of the supervisory officer, 
or of the subject-matter expert. Indeed, there can be no 
satisfactory teaching of a course of study without that 
understanding and appreciation on the part of teachers 
which is best secured by having them contribute largely to 



1 88 Problems in City School Administration 

the preparation of these syllabi. A wise administrator con- 
stantly seeks to acquaint teachers with the meaning of 
records which are kept and reports which are required. 
Some of the best forms for recording school information, 
and many of the most acceptable ideas with respect to those 
supervisory measures, have come from interested groups of 
teachers. Teachers' meetings cease to be a bore when it is 
understood that it is in this democratic assembly that the 
policies which are to govern the school system are to be 
developed. In many systems of schools a series of meetings 
by grades, or groups which have special interests, have 
been continued over a year or more in order to develop a 
course of study, or to discuss administrative policies, or 
for professional study which looks toward the improvement 
of the work in the schools. 



MEASUREMENT OF THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF PUPILS 

A supervisory officer who is interested in his schools 
naturally attempts, from time to time, to measure the 
achievements of the pupils in the schools under his charge. 
Until very recently nearly all school systems used the term- 
examination as a means for making these tests. The 
courses of study were outlined on the basis of definite ac- 
complishments, in definite textbooks, and then examination 
questions, uniform for all schools, were issued from the 
superintendent's office, the test being how many pupils 
could pass the written tests issued. 

This has been the method used in Butte, the questions 
issued being either the Montana state questions, or ques- 
tions approved by the City Superintendent of Schools. 
These examinations have been attempted by all pupils, from 
the third to the eighth grades inclusive. One week, four 
times each year, or a total of one school month, has been 
given to these tests, and another week, also four times each 
year, or another school month, to preparation for the tests. 
Nominally one third, but actually nearly one half, as is ex- 



The Supervision of Instruction 189 

plained in the footnote on page 121, of a child's chances 
for promotion from grade to grade has depended upon the 
ability to pass these quarterly written tests. The inevitable 
result of this method of school supervision has been that 
the teachers have come to teach textbooks, rather than chil- 
dren, and one of the measures of efficiency in the teaching 
corps has come to be the ability to prepare children for 
these examinations. 

As a method for supervising the schools the periodical 
written examination is about as poor and as wasteful a 
method as could be devised, and the bad results of the sys- 
tem in Butte have been well set forth in the statistical data 
given in Chapter VI, showing the large number failing to 
pass the promotional tests and the large number of over- 
age children in the schools. Many of the faults in the 
instruction seen, as pointed out in Chapter VII, on the 
Quality of Instruction, are also undoubtedly due, in large 
part, to the system of tests which have been in use, and 
which have determined the aims of the instruction given. 

This system of supervision is so wasteful of both the 
teachers' and pupils' time; the questions asked are fre- 
quently so irrelevant, and so technical; the effect of the 
tests in shaping the instruction are so bad ; the general fail- 
ure of the plan, as shown by the tests given (see Chapter 
IX), to insure efficient instruction, is so evident; and the 
results on the promotion of children are so disastrous ; that 
the Survey commission recommend the abandonment of 
these uniform written tests, and the substitution, not only 
of a more personal form of school supervision, but also of 
a more reliable basis for the promotion of pupils. If a 
course of study based on topics, rather than pages in text- 
books, were outlined for the schools; if the supervision pro- 
vided were to direct attention more to the improvement in 
the methods of instruction on the part of teachers, and the 
methods of supervision on the part of principals; and if 
promotion from grade to grade were based on the com- 
bined judgment of the teacher and principal concerned,— 



IQO Problems in City School Administration 

the educational results obtained in the Butte schools cer- 
tainly would be materially improved. 

STANDARD TESTS OF INSTRUCTION 

The recommendation that the type of examination test 
heretofore used be abandoned does not mean that the Sur- 
vey commission feel that tests for purposes of supervision 
should not, from time to time, be made. On the contrary, 
the Survey commission distinctly recommend the opposite. 
The tests that they recommend, however, in subjects in 
which they may be used, are the so-called ''standard tests," 
such as were used by the commission itself in testing the 
work of the schools, and as are explained in some detail in 
Chapter IX. By the use of these standard efficiency tests, — 
tests designed to test individual growth, increase in accom- 
plishment, reasoning ability, and increased personal power 
on the part of pupils, rather than the memorization of 
knowledge which may or may not be of any real value, — 
an efficient addition to the work of supervision in Butte 
may be introduced. 

Careful students of education are beginning to appre- 
ciate the inadequacy of the method of examination of pupils 
which has been common in the past. With the development 
of scales and imits of measurement which enable us more 
accurately to evaluate the achievements of pupils, the work 
of the supervisory officer has increased in significance. 
When such careful measurement of the results of instruc- 
tion are made, and when teachers have been trained to ap- 
preciate the validity of such measures, it is relatively simple 
for the supervisory officer to point out with precision the 
strength or weakness of a particular teacher. Where the 
right attitude exists between teachers and supervisors, this 
careful analysis of the results of the teacher's work quite 
commonly results in a change of emphasis, or a redistri- 
bution of time or effort on the part of the teacher. 



The Supervision of Instruction 191 

TEACHER AND SUPERVISOR 

In the survey of the problem of supervision in the Butte 
school system, the commission was impressed with the 
spirit of cooperation which was evident as between prin- 
cipals and teachers. They found many teachers who were 
eager to improve their work, and principals who were most 
anxious to help them. In every case, they felt that the 
principals were endeavoring faithfully to perform their 
duties, as they understood them. The recommendations 
of the commission have to do mainly with the necessity 
for broader training for members of the supervisory corps, 
in order that they may better tmderstand the work which 
their position involves. The Survey commission, impressed 
as they have been by the need of better professional train- 
ing for the school principals, specifically recommend that 
their tenure in the school system be made to depend upon 
the securing of more adequate training than they now pos- 
sess. In order not to work any undue hardship upon them, 
it is recommended that they be given an extra month's 
salary, and that they be required, during the next three 
years, either to attend two summer schools, which may be 
organized by the Board of School Trustees in Butte, or 
that they attend two university summer sessions, and take, 
courses, devoted to the problems of supervision, which 
meet with the approval of the Superintendent of Schools. 

We feel that we cannot commend too strongly, nor too 
often, the action of the Board of School Trustees in bring- 
ing to the city system a primary supervisor of broad ex- 
perience and superior professional training. The commis- 
sion believe that strong and continuous support of this 
officer in her work for the improvement of the teaching 
corps will bring large returns in increased efficiency for the 
school system. 

There is need too, we believe, for thoroughgoing sup- 
port of the Superintendent of Schools by the Board of 
Trustees in any constructive policy he may desire to carry 



192 Problems in City School Administration 

out. He should be considered the executive officer of the 
board, and should carry out the policies which the board 
has approved. His special professional training and equip* 
ment should be acknowledged, and he should have the 
power to select teachers, secure textbooks and supplies, 
place teachers in the system, bring about the organization 
of courses of study, determine the organization of classes 
and schools, and direct the collection of data which may 
prove significant for the management and control of the 
school system, subject only to the approval or veto of the 
Board of School Trustees. He must, if his administration 
is to prove efficient, be held responsible also for the success 
or failure of his administration, and it is essential that he 
should be given power commensurate with this responsibil- 
ity, and then be expected to use it, and use it intelligently. 
Throughout the system, the success of supervision will 
depend upon the loyalty of teachers to their principals, and 
of principals to the general supervisory and administrative 
officers of the system. There can never be established any 
adequate system of supervision or administration unless 
members of the Board of School Trustees constantly refer 
any matter of unrest or dispute to the supervisory officer 
most concerned, rather than take action, either to support 
or condemn the one who is unhappy in her work. It is 
recommended that the rules of the board be so amended 
(if amendment is necessary) as to preclude an appeal to 
the board or to any individual member of that body, until 
any matter of dissatisfaction or dispute has been consid- 
ered and acted upon by the proper supervisory or adminis- 
trative officer. 



CHAPTER XI 

ADAPTATION OF THE SCHOOLS TO 
COMMUNITY NEEDS 

(i) The New Types of Instruction 

TT is the function of public education to provide oppor- 
-*■ tunities for training to all members of the community 
who are willing or who can be persuaded to secure more 
education. The older idea that the public school system 
was concerned only with the training of boys and girls from 
the ages of 6 to 14 and 16 has, in the more progressive 
communities, been replaced by a conception of education 
which is large enough to include children of less than 6 
years of age, and all of the members of the community 
beyond compulsory school age who can be interested in 
further education. We are beginning to vmderstand that 
those ideals and purposes which are to be significant in the 
lives of men and women, are more apt to be developed 
after the period devoted to elementary-school training than 
during the eight years devoted to this work. We know 
that in every city there are men and women who are eager 
to learn and whose further education will constitute one of 
the greatest assets of the community. The organization 
of our schools which has placed the age of entrance at 6 
is accidental, rather than carefully planned in terms of the 
development of children and the social consideration of the 
environment in which they live. 

kindergartens 

Reference has already been made in Chapter VIII, on 
the Courses of Study, to the necessity for establishing 

193 



194 Problems in City School Administration 

kindergartens in all of the elementary schools. Without 
seeming unduly critical of the environment in which most 
of the children of Butte live, it may be remarked that there 
are few cities in the United States in which the environment 
of children is as unfavorable as that found here. If chil- 
dren could have as much as three hours a day, from 4 to 
6 years of age, with skilled kindergarten teachers, it seems 
to members of the commission that much of that joy which 
is the prerogative of childhood would be introduced into 
the lives of many of the little children of Butte, who are, 
even when home conditions are most favorable, happiest 
in their play and work with other children, under sympa- 
thetic direction. 

Students of education recognize that the kindergarten 
does much for the social training of children, that the play 
activities which are to be found there have a very definite 
educative value, and that the free intercourse among chil- 
dren and teachers does much to lay the foundation for later 
intellectual development. It is in the kindergarten that 
many children get their first appreciation of order and sys- 
tem. They acquire habits of industry and courtesy, traits 
which are certainly valuable outside of school and for 
preparation for their later school work. The folklore, 
music, and art which are found in every good kindergarten 
lay the foundation for growth in power of appreciation of 
those things which are most worth while in literature, 
music, and the fine arts. Kindergarten teachers are always 
anxious concerning the physical welfare of children, and 
it is during the kindergarten period, not infrequently, that 
corrective treatment can be suggested, to the very great ad- 
vantage of the children concerned, in terms of their later 
development. In an investigation made in an Eastern city 
during the past year it was discovered that, of two groups 
of children from the same economic and social groups, 
those who had attended kindergartens made better progress 
and did more satisfactory work in the eight years of their 
elementary-school courses than those who had not. 



Adaptation of Schools to Community Needs 195 

SrECIAL CLASSES FOR SPECIAL GROUPS 

Very good provision has been made in the local school 
system for special work and custodial care for boys who arc 
delinquent. The commission feel that similar provisions 
should also be made for girls. 

In their visits to the schools the members of the Survey 
commission were impressed by the number of backward or 
mentally deficient children who were present in the regular 
elementary-school classes. These children interfere greatly 
with the work of the teacher of normal children and profit 
very little from the attempt which they make to do the reg- 
ular school work. The commission recommends that spe- 
cial classes, of not more than fifteen pupils each, and taught 
by teachers who have secured special training, be organized 
in all of the larger buildings, for the sake of giving a type 
of instruction suited to the needs of backward or mentally 
deficient children. 

In the first grades of many of the schools a large num- 
ber of children are to be found who do not speak English 
when they enter school. If kindergartens are established, 
this difficulty may be largely overcome. Until that time, 
it is recommended that special classes be organized for non- 
English-speaking children, in order that their progress may 
be made more rapid, and for the sake of giving those who 
already speak English the larger opportunity which would 
come from working in groups, equal in ability with them- 
selves with respect to the command of the English language. 

The commission have not been able to make a careful in- 
vestigation concerning the number of deaf, blind, crippled, 
tubercular, or otherwise physically unfortunate children 
in the city. Most cities of the size of Butte have found 
it necessary to organize special instruction for children thus 
handicapped. It is customary when the numbers are small 
and the distance to be traveled great, to provide transporta- 
tion for these unfortunate children. This problem should 
be carefully investigated, and children in these groups, 



196 Problems in City School Administration 

whether they are now in school or not, should be given 
such education as they are capable of enjoying. Care 
should be taken to provide, whenever possible, such a train- 
ing as will enable them to become self-supporting. 

In every school system there are also to be found those 
children who are especially capable. Provision is being 
made, in more progressive school systems, to conserve the 
ability represented by these children of unusual capability 
by providing opportunities, either for rapid advancement 
through the several grades of the school system, or for 
more intensive and thoroughgoing study of the subjects 
commonly taught. The commission are of the opinion that 
this matter should be carefully considered by principals 
and teachers in the Butte school system, and they are per- 
suaded that in many cases children should be allowed to skip 
a half-year or more, from time to time. In order to put 
them in classes where they can work up to the maximum 
of their capacity. The recommendation contained in an- 
other part of this report for intermediate schools (see 
Chapter VIII) would, if carried out, do much to provide 
opportunity for these super-normal children In the upper 
grades of the schools. 

NIGHT SCHOOLS 

The investment of any city in public school buildings 
and equipment can bring the maximum of return only when 
the buildings are used up to the maximum of their capacity, 
not only during the period from nine o'clock in the morning 
until four in the afternoon, but also during the later after- 
noon and evening hours, and possibly during the period be- 
fore nine o'clock in the morning. In a city like Butte, in 
which the working day covers the whole of the twenty-four 
hours. It seems especially worth while to consider the pos- 
sibility of utilizing the school equipment during more than 
six or seven hours a day. There must be In this city many 
boys and girls who leave school before completing either 



Adaptation of Schools to Coimniinity Needs 197 

an elementary or a high school course, who would, if op- 
portunity were offered, continue some phases of their work 
in classes which might be organized, as has already been 
suggested, either before regular school hours in the morn- 
ing, during late afternoon hours, or during the period com- 
monly occupied by night schools. These young people 
should be encouraged to continue some sort of intellectual 
work, or if this type of activity makes little appeal, there 
should be given, in the school buildings, the opportunity 
for social intercourse, and they should have provided for 
them entertainment which will safeguard them and the 
community from the evil influences of the street and of 
those commercial amusement enterprises which are all too 
common in our cities. Wherever the school plant has been 
opened to this group of people a large demand has been 
found for work in manual training, the commercial sub- 
jects, instruction in science, cooking and sewing, besides a 
considerable group who are anxious to take up those studies 
regularly offered in the high school. 



CLASSES FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH 

Provision should be made for the teaching of English 
to youth or adults in the community, who are unable to 
speak or to read the English language. In the organiza- 
tion of such classes, it is not necessary to have special classes 
or teachers for each foreign tongue represented. A well- 
qualified teacher may have in her class as many as fifteen 
different nationalities, and yet prove most efficient in teach- 
ing English to all of them. The community's obligation to 
educate those who cannot speak English is as real, from the 
standpoint of the safeguarding of our democratic institu- 
tions, as it is to educate all children between six and six- 
teen. Classes for the teaching of English to those speak- 
ing other languages should be opened in at least three or 
four school buildings, and should continue from seventy- 
five to one hundred sessions each year. 



198 Problems in City School Administration 

THE WIDER USE OF THE SCHOOL PLANT 

School buildings should be opened as meeting places for 
groups of girls or women who may be interested in hy- 
giene and home nursing, in music, or in physical training. 
For the older boys and girls who have left school, or for 
the men and women of the community, public lectures, 
musical entertainments and social gatherings, debating or 
literary clubs, and the like, under proper restrictions, should 
be provided by the Board of Trustees, and should be en- 
couraged in the school buildings. 

The community as a whole is interested in the educa- 
tion of little children, of youth, and of adults, and a wise 
organization of educational activities in any city must take 
account of the special needs and interests of the several 
groups to be found, without any age specification. The 
wider use of the school plant by those who are unable to, 
or are unwilling to, attend the regular sessions of the ele- 
mentary or high school will result in a larger return for 
the community from the investment already made in build- 
ings and equipment. The purpose of public education can- 
not be realized until the school system throws open its doors 
and provides instruction, suited to their needs, for all the 
people of the community. 

(2) Care for the Physical Welfare of the Children 

facilities for play 

In their examination of the schools of Butte the mem- 
bers of the Survey commission have been deeply impressed 
by the need of very much greater attention to the physical 
welfare of the children in the schools. The play activi- 
ties of the children seemed to be given but little chance for 
expression, in most of the schools, and the general absence 
of adequate playgrounds or playground facilities was 
noticeable. As is pointed out elsewhere in this report 
(Chapter III), larger playgrounds, a better location of the 



Adaptation of Schools to Community Needs 199 

school buildings, and a supply of playground apparatus for 
each of the schools should be provided. The educational 
value of play is too often underestimated by both teachers 
and adults. In a community such as Butte much ought to 
be made of play, both for educational and physical reasons. 



PHYSICAL CONDITION" OF THE CHILDREN 

The members of the Survey commission were also im- 
pressed, as they visited the schools, by the urgent need for 
some form of physical examination and direction for the 
schools of the city. The number of children who were 
sitting in seats too small or too large for them ; the number 
who showed unmistakably that they were poorly nourished, 
and in poor physical condition; the number of mouth 
breathers; the number with defective teeth; the large num- 
ber with defective eyesight, and the few provided with 
glasses, — these and other evidences of the need of some 
competent physical direction, coupled with a follow-up 
system capable of advising and securing results, were im- 
pressive facts to the members of the Survey commission. 
So impressive were they that the members of the Survey 
commission feel that they would not be doing their duty if 
they did not strongly urge upon the Board of School Trus- 
tees the necessity for the appointment of a competent per- 
son to direct health and physical welfare work in the schools, 
and to oversee the health Instruction in the schools; and 
also the appointment of at least two school nurses, to co- 
operate with the director of the health and physical work 
in the schools, and to follow up the work by securing the 
cooperation of the parents in the homes. 

PROBABLE PHYSICAL CONDITIONS 

From careful studies made in hundreds of cities in the 
United States, and from the published results of the studies 
of millions of school children in the United States, Europe, 



200 Problems in City School Administration 

Canada, and Australia, very good estimates of the number 
of defective children in any community can now be made. 
Based on these studies we can safely say that, of the ap- 
proximately 7,500 children enrolled in the Butte schools, 
not far from 

12 per cent. (900) are poorly nourished or anaemic; 
60 per cent. (4,500) have seriously defective teeth; 
20 per cent. (1,500) have or have had obstructed 

nasal breathing, or enlarged tonsils; 
10 per cent. (750) have enlarged cervical glands, 

many of which are tuberculous; 
20 per cent. (1,500) have been infected at least once 

with tuberculosis, many of whom probably will die 

of the disease; 
12 per cent. (900) have defective vision serious 

enough to require correction by glasses, with which 

very few seem to be provided ; 

5 per cent. (375) have seriously defective hearing; 
2 per cent. (150) have organic heart disease ; 

6 per cent. (450) are "nervous," or predisposed to 
some form of nervous disorder; 

I per cent. (75) are so mentally backward that their 
intelligence will never go beyond that which is nor- 
mal for the twelve-year-old child; 

15 to 20 per cent. (1,125 to 1,500) sleep in a bedroom 
with no window open; 

50 per cent. (3,750) are not supplied with the kind of 
food which young children should have, if proper 
growth and mental development are to be expected. 

The above are more probably under rather than over 
estimates, as the percentages given will be exceeded in 
good American residence cities. The figures given are suf- 
ficient to indicate at least some of the physical needs of 
Butte. The work of the schools can never reach a high 
plane of community usefulness until some intelligent at- 
tention is given to these defective children. It is a waste 



Adaptation of Schools to Community Needs 201 

of time and money to pay a teacher $95 a month to try to 
impart instruction to a child who is physically incapable 
of absorbing 25 per cent, of the instruction provided. The 
child fails to make progress, retards the progress of other 
children by absorbing an undue proportion of the teacher's 
time, fails of promotion, and is headed toward a failure in 
life's work. Statistical studies have shown that an unduly 
large proportion of criminals and prostitutes are recruited 
from this class of defective children. The very large 
amount of over-age and retarded pupils found in the Butte 
schools (see Chapter VI) is no doubt traceable to the ab- 
solute lack of any system of health supervision in the 
schools. 

TYPES OF HEALTH SUPERVISION 

There are two main types of health supervision now 
found in the school systems of the United States. The 
first is the so-called "medical inspection," which is often 
carried on by local physicians who devote a few hours a 
week to the detection and control of contagious diseases. 
This represents the usual beginnings of health service in 
the schools. In nearly all cases it is merely an extension 
of the functions of the local board of health. The cost 
averages, over the United States, about thirteen cents per 
year per pupil. 

The second type of school health service has now passed 
far beyond the "medical inspection" in which the work be- 
gan, and aims not only to control contagious diseases, but 
also to discover every form of physical defectiveness which 
may exist among the pupils, and, by means of an efficient 
follow-up service, to secure the cooperation of the home 
in preventing and curing defects. This type of school 
health service also includes in its scope the physical train- 
ing and playground work, the supervision of the hygiene 
instruction in the schools, home education in matters of 
hygiene, sanitary inspection and supervision of the school- 
houses, and other similar lines of health and sanitary serv- 



202 Problems in City School Administration 

ice. The cost is often as high as fifty cents per pupil per 
year, but it is worth many times the other type of health 
service. It is, however, a much more difificult type to find 
a physician capable of handling. 

THE SCHOOL NURSE 

At least two school nurses should be supplied for fol- 
low-up work. Without an adequate follow-up system only 
a small fraction of the notices of defects sent home to the 
parents will ever be acted upon. Judging by the experience 
of other cities, probably not more than from lo to 12 per 
cent, would be acted on in Butte. With a school nurse 
follow-up system experience elsewhere shows that from 
85 to 90 per cent, of the cases reported secure attention. 
The nurse goes into the homes of the children, notes the 
conditions which surround them there, and by a tactful 
presentation of needs, which women can do so much better 
than men, accomplishes results with mothers which can- 
not otherwise be had. School nurses also very often es- 
tablish somewhat permanent advisory relations with the 
homes they have once visited. 

School nurses can also make many of the routine school 
inspections as well as can the school physician, and they 
are frequently of more service to the teachers. Eye dis- 
eases, skin diseases, the beginning of illness, the detection 
of head lice, and the early recognition of physical defects 
can be as well handled by the school nurse as by the school 
physician. Another advantage of school nurses is that they 
do not arouse so much professional jealousy as do regular 
physicians. 

THE TEACHER AND HEALTH SUPERVISION 

Any plan for health supervision which does not secure 
the cooperation of the teachers in the school system prob- 
ably will prove a failure. The more prominent the child- 



Adaptation of Schools to Community Needs 203 

welfare and preventive aspects of the work, the more the 
teachers must be enHsted in the work if it is to succeed. 
Teachers, who have the children under their charge, are 
usually very willing to cooperate, if they only understand 
what it is they are expected to do. An important part of 
the work of a health supervisor is the education of the 
teachers so that they may render the proper cooperative 
assistance to both the school physician and the school nurse. 
Though usually quite blind to physical defects at first, teach- 
ers soon, with a little training, become quite adept in de- 
tecting many of the common defects of childhood. 

INSTRUCTION IN HYGIENE AND PLAY SUPERVISION 

Another place where the right kind of school physician 
can render valuable service is in supervising the health 
instruction and physical training work of the schools. To 
the members of the Survey commission both these lines of 
work seemed to be in need of more careful and more In- 
telligent direction. Of directed play, in a large number of 
the schools, there seemed to be little or none. The work 
In health instruction, it was felt, could also be materially 
improved. 



CHAPTER XII 

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND 
RECOMMENDATIONS 

TT is not possible to summarize adequately the results of 
-*' the Survey in a few pages. The conclusions which have 
been reached and the recommendations which are made de- 
pend, in every instance, upon observations which are re- 
corded or upon data which were collected, and which ap- 
pear in the tables to be found in the report. In order for 
anyone to understand the conclusions which are reached 
and the recommendations which are made, it will be neces- 
sary to read the entire report. To this end, the Survey 
commission recommend that at least five thousand copies 
of this report be printed, as soon as is possible, in order 
that all Interested citizens may have a chance to study care- 
fully the findings of the Survey commission. It may not 
be out of place to suggest that all who read the conclusions 
which follow withhold judgment as to the validity of the 
findings of the commission, and of the recommendations 
which are made, until it is possible to examine carefully 
the data which furnish the basis for these conclusions and 
recommendations. 

THE ADMINISTRATION OF SCHOOLS 

A careful study of the law under which the school dis- 
trict has been organized makes it clear that the Board of 
School Trustees is vested with large authority in the con- 
trol of public education. The commission recommend that 
there be a clear differentiation between the legislative func- 
tions exercised by the Board of School Trustees, and the 
executive powers vested by them in the Superintendent of 
Schools and the School Clerk. There can never be any 

204 



Summary, Conclusions, and Recommendations 205 

adequate administration of schools without the placing of 
large responsibility upon executive officers, chosen by the 
Board of School Trustees, and this responsibility can never 
be adequately met except vi^hen the board vests in the 
Superintendent of Schools authority commensurate v^ith 
his responsibility. 

SELECTION, TRAINING, TENURE, AND SALARIES OF TEACHERS 

Most of the teachers who are now at work In the ele- 
mentary schools of Butte have had inadequate professional 
training. Only 22 elementary-school teachers out of 181 
reported have had a minimum of two years of normal- 
school or other professional training beyond their high- 
school course. Only 6 of the 16 principals of the ele- 
mentary schools have had this minimum of professional 
training. The commission most strongly recommend that 
hereafter no teacher be employed in the school system who 
has not had a four years' high-school course and two years 
of professional training. The commission recommend 
that, in order that these teachers may realize their greatest 
efficiency, a summer school be opened in Butte for the pro- 
fessional training of teachers; that all teachers be required 
to attend this school, or some other recognized normal or 
university summer school; and that they be paid an addi- 
tional month's salary for such attendance. A similar recom- 
mendation Is made with respect to elementary-school prin- 
cipals. After a careful study of the salaries paid in other 
Western cities, the commission have recommended that the 
maximum salary to be paid to elementary-school teachers 
and to principals be Increased, but that this maximum salary 
be made dependent, In every case, upon the securing of 
additional professional training. 

SCHOOL BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT 

The reports which have recently been made by the 
school architect, in cooperation with the county health offi- 



2o6 Problems in City School Administration 

cer, and by the city health officer, were carefully examined 
by the Survey commission. They were found to be in sub- 
stantial agreement. The members of the commission then 
made a careful study of the buildings on their own account. 
Their findings and recommendations may be briefly sum- 
marized as follows: 

1. In the past the school sites which have been bought 
have been too small, and the buildings not infrequently 
undesirably located. 

2. The type of building constructed is not satisfac- 
tory. In almost every case the lighting is from at least 
two sides, with wide pillars between the windows. In 
modern schoolhouse construction lighting is always ar- 
ranged from one side only, with very narrow pillars be- 
tween the windows. 

3. There has been a tendency to construct too many 
small buildings, which are uneconomical and unsatisfactory 
from the standpoint of providing proper educational facili- 
ties. It is doubtful whether it is ever economical to con- 
struct a building with fewer than from 16 to 18 rooms. 
This is especially necessary if proper provision Is to be 
made for the manual and household arts, and for special 
classes for children who need special attention. These 
larger buildings should contain an auditorium, in order that 
they may be used outside of regular school hours as a com- 
munity center. 

4. The buildings now in use can be best adapted to 
the needs of the community by segregating, in the present 
high-school plant, the children of the seventh and eighth 
grades and the first year of the high school, as an inter- 
mediate school, in order to make room for kindergartens, 
special classes, and for work in industrial and household 
arts, as suggested above. It seems to the members of the 
commission that some of the buildings, notably the Greeley 
School, are so Inadequate and unhygienic that they should 
be demolished rather than be repaired and added to. It is 
the judgment of the commission that It would be unfor- 



Summary, Conclusions, and Recommendations 207 

tunate to add to the present high-school building. A new 
high-school site should be found, and a new building, con- 
taining a gymnasium and auditorium, as well as the ordi- 
nary laboratories and classrooms, should be constructed. 

5. The janitorial service is faithful, but not always 
intelligent. It is recommended that the clerk of the Board 
of School Trustees, in cooperation with the Superintendent 
of Schools, be given larger authority with respect to the 
work of the janitors, and that they be given, under his 
direction, such training as will insure more satisfactory 
service. 

CENSUS, RECORDS, AND REPORTS 

The present school census has been taken as provided 
by the state law. The commission recommend a more 
satisfactory system of recording the census data, and means 
of keeping the census file up to date, and the collecting of 
such additional information as will make the census more 
significant, from the standpoint of its possible educational 
use. The forms for amending the census are given in the 
body of the report. Recommendations are also made with 
respect to the methods of reporting by principals to at- 
tendance officers and to the Superintendent, and concerning 
the report of the attendance officers to the Superintendent. 
Some suggestions are given concerning the possibility of 
simplifying the present system of school records. 

COSTS AND FINANCIAL RECORDS 

The commission found it difficult, from the data which 
are available, either in the school offices or in the report of 
the United States Census, to make any adequate calcula- 
tion as to the cost of education in Butte, compared with 
other cities. Such approximate comparisons as it seemed 
advisable to make are found in a table of comparative cost, 
which is given in the body of the report. In consultation 
with the School Clerk, and with his hearty cooperation and 



2o8 Problems in City School Administration 

approval, a better system of school accounting has been 
recommended, and a form for such is included in the re- 
port. With this more adequate system of accounts it will 
be possible for the Board of School Trustees to know con- 
cerning the cost of any particular school, or type of edu- 
cational activity. With this information at hand it will be 
possible for the board to adopt such policies as promise a 
maximum of economy and efficiency. 

THE CLASSIFICATION AND PROGRESS OF PUPILS 

The facts with respect to the classification and progress 
of children in the school system were collected from all 
schools of the district. These data show clearly that there 
are a very large number of children in the Butte schools 
who are too old for the grade in which they are found. 
A careful examination of the tables which appear in this 
report w^ll show that one out of every two children in the 
school system is over-age for his grade. Many of these 
over-age children are one to two years over-age, but al- 
most two hundred are three or more years over-age for their 
grade. In the body of the report will be found a discus- 
sion of the causes of this retardation. It is more important, 
in this connection, to note that the commission recommend 
that special classes be established for those who are back- 
ward or mentally deficient. These special classes will prove 
helpful not only in making it possible to give proper train- 
ing to those who are backward or deficient, but also in re- 
moving from regular classes children who interfere with 
the proper teaching of those who are normal. The com- 
mission also recommend the establishment of a summer 
elementary school, in order that many children who would 
otherwise fail of promotion may make normal progress in 
the school system. 

A careful study of promotion and non-promotion in the 
school system, the data being recorded in tables in the body 
of the report, shows an extraordinarily large number of 



Summary, Conclusions, and Recommendations 209 

non-promotions. These non-promotions seem to the 
members of the Survey commission to be due to the fact 
that promotion is based almost wholly upon the ability of 
children to recall great numbers of facts, rather than upon 
their capacity to undertake the work of the next grade. 
A reorganization of the courses of study and a change in 
the type of examination given is most urgently recom- 
mended, in order that the amount of non-promotions may 
be decreased. 

From the data collected concerning the size of elemen- 
tary-school classes, the commission have discovered that con- 
ditions are most favorable in Butte. Indeed, they seem 
almost ideal as compared with other cities in the United 
States. The relatively small class which is common in the 
school system suggests the possibility of adequate instruc- 
tion for all children, and of regular advancement for all 
who are systematic in attendance, provided the recommen- 
dations made above concerning special classes and for 
changes in the courses of study and examination systems 
are carried out. It was also discovered that the size of 
recitation sections in the high school was small, and that 
it would be possible to increase, by as much as 50 per 
cent., the attendance upon the high school, in many of the 
subjects taught, without increasing the present teaching 
corps, provided an adequate plant were available. 

THE QUALITY OF INSTRUCTION 

In the body of the report will be found a discussion of 
the criteria which seem to the members of the commission 
fundamental in any discussion of class teaching. In the 
light of these criteria, the commission have found that the 
teaching in the Butte schools is, in general, good with re- 
spect to drill work. They are of the opinion, both from the 
standpoint of their observations and from the tests given 
to children, that the work involving thinking has been neg- 
lected. This seems to be due, in considerable measure, 



210 Problems in City School Administration 

to the fact that the type of examination required has led 
to a cramming of facts rather than to an insistence on the 
solving of problems by pupils. There is need for better 
understanding upon the part of the teachers of the impor- 
tance of lessons whose end-point is to be found in appre- 
ciation of literature, art, and music. The technique involved 
in this kind of teaching seems not to be well understood by 
the teachers of the school system. 

The commission were most favorably impressed by the 
relationship of good will and accord which seems to exist 
between teachers and pupils throughout the school system. 
In the opinion of the commission, the teachers employed 
in the Butte schools are, with few exceptions, women of 
good ability, who are anxious to do their best work for the 
children. They believe, however, that these teachers are 
not now realizing anything like their full possibilities, and 
that much greater efficiency in teaching may be expected to 
result from careful supervision and from more adequate 
professional training. 

COURSES OF STUDY 

As has already been suggested, the courses of study 
need to be carefully revised. There is at present entirely 
too much emphasis upon formal drill work and the remem- 
bering of facts which are recorded in books. It is the 
primary purpose of education to develop power of inde- 
pendent thought upon the part of children, rather than to 
cram them with facts. Whenever a course of study or an 
examination system emphasizes the importance of remem- 
bering, rather than the possible growth in power of think- 
ing and of appreciation, teachers invariably limit their 
work to the preparation of children for these factual tests. 
It is the opinion of the commission that the courses of study 
need to be improved by introducing kindergartens, by pro- 
viding more adequate work in nature study and elementary 
science, by increasing the time devoted to the manual and 



Summary, Conclusions, and Recommendations 211 

household arts, and by laying greater stress upon literature, 
music, and drawing. 

It is also suggested in the body of the report that there 
would be great advantage in organizing an intermediate 
school for children who have completed the sixth grade. 
This school would permit of some degree of specialization 
during the three-years' course, and would in all probability 
not only afford better educational opportunities for those 
who remain in school, but would also increase the number 
of those who stay for nine years of school work. 

THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF PUPILS 

One of the most important parts of the work of the 
Survey was the measurement of the achievements of pupils 
in the school system. Standard tests in spelling, arith- 
metic, penmanship, and composition were given. It was 
possible by using these tests to compare the results achieved 
in Butte with those which are secured in other school sys- 
tems. In spelling, in the fundamental operations of arith- 
metic (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division), 
and in penmanship, the results secured in Butte were as 
good or better than those found in other school systems. 
This is exactly what would have been expected by one who 
knew of the emphasis placed upon drill work in the school 
system. The results in the reasoning tests in arithmetic 
and in English composition Indicated a very decided weak- 
ness in these fields of work. The commission venture to 
suggest that it is only when emphasis Is placed upon think- 
ing and upon the development of the Individuality and self- 
expression of children, rather than upon formal drills and 
fact-getting, that satisfactory results can be expected in 
reasoning or In expression of thought. 

THE SUPERVISION OF INSTRUCTION 

The Board of School Trustees are to be strongly com- 
mended for their action in securing the services of a woman 



212 Problems in City School Administration 

of broad training and experience for the position of pri- 
mary supervisor. In the judgment of the members of the 
commission much of the success of any school system de- 
pends upon the quahty of the supervision exercised by the 
Superintendent and the general and special supervisors^ 
Even the best of teachers, possessed of the most adequate 
professional training, need the help and inspiration which 
come from the especially capable people who should be 
placed in supervisory positions, for the sake of demonstrat- 
ing superior methods of work, of criticizing the classroom 
procedure, of measuring the success of a teacher's work by 
the accomplishment of the children taught, and of securing 
the cooperation of all teachers in the development of the 
policies which characterize either the whole school system 
or some particular building or other division of it. 

In the work of supervision the principal's office should 
be of very great importance. Those who now hold these 
offices in Butte are, in the opinion of the Survey commis- 
sion, eager to fulfill their obligation to teachers and to 
pupils. They need, however, better and broader conceptions 
of their work, and to this end it has been recommended 
that they be required to secure, in summer sessions, more 
adequate professional training. 

THE ADAPTATION OF SCHOOLS TO COMMUNITY NEEDS 

The schools of Butte have, in the past, concerned them- 
selves chiefly with the instruction of children of elementary- 
and high-school age, and during those hours which are 
commonly recognized as constituting the school day. The 
schools have offered, for the most part, a single program 
of work. The commission recommend: 

1. The organization of kindergartens. 

2. The establishment of special classes for those who 
are backward or deficient and for non-English-speaking 
children. 



Summary, Conclusions, and Recommendations 213 

3. The wider use of the school plant, including ele- 
mentary- and high-school work in classes to be opened, 
either before regular school hours In the morning, during 
the late afternoon, or at night. 

4. That much greater opportunity for play and recrea- 
tion be provided, both within the buildings, wherever that 
is possible, and by the purchase and equipment of play- 
grounds. 

5. That the physical welfare of school children be pro- 
vided for through the establishment of adequate health 
supervision, involving medical inspection and visiting 
nurses. 

In conclusion, the Survey commission wish to em- 
phasize, for all who may read these conclusions, the neces- 
sity of studying carefully the whole report. In the several 
chapters presented will be found the records of observa- 
tions made and the tabulation of data which were collected. 
It is only when the reader has available these records of 
observation and these collected data that he can hope to 
judge fairly concerning the conclusions of the report, or 
to be reasonable and open-minded in his acceptance or re- 
jection of the recommendations which we have made. 



Appendices 



APPENDIX A 

THE INITIATION AND AUTHORIZATION OF THE SURVEY 

IN an extended communication to the Board of Trustees under date 
of April 27, 1914, Superintendent of Schools George F. Downer 
proposed that the Board of Trustees authorize an expert survey 
of the schools of District No. 1. This recommendation was con- 
sidered by the Committee on Teachers and School Management, which 
on the same date offered for the consideration of the board a body 
of resolutions on various subjects, closing with the following para- 
graph : 

(6) That in order to create the most favorable conditions pos- 
sible for increasing the efficiency of the public schools of this district, 
the board immediately investigate the plausibility of having made here 
such an expert examination of the schools of the district as has been 
suggested by the Superintendent in the attached letter. Such surveys 
have recently been made in Portland, Oregon, and Boise, Idaho, and 
if such a survey is made of the Butte schools, we hereby resolve 
to publish the results in full and to abide by the recommendations 
of the experts, wherever possible. 

The resolutions were signed by C. R. Hopkins, P. S. Harrington, 
and M. J. Rozsa, members of the Teachers and School Management 
Committee, and were passed, unanimously, by the board, all trustees 
being present. 

At its next meeting the following resolution was introduced by 
the Laws, Rules, and Regulations Committee : 

Resolved, That a survey be made of the schools of School District 
No. One, by Dr. George D. Strayer of Teachers College, Columbia 
University, New York City; Dr. Ellwood Cubberley, head of the 
Department of Education, Leland Stanford University, and Dr. Frank 
P. Bachman of New York City, and two assistants. Such survey to 
commence as soon as practicable, and there is hereby appropriated and 
set aside from the General Fund of the said School District the 
sum of Four Thousand Dollars ($4,000) to pay the expense of said 
survey and for the cost of a report from the said persons to the 
Board of Education as to the conditions of the said schools. 

C. R. Hopkins, 
Lowndes Maury. 

On roll call Trustees E. D. Elderkin, P. S. Harrington, C. R. 
Hopkins, E. F. Maginn, H. L. Maury, and M. J. Rozsa voted Aye. 
Trustee C. R. Wallace voted No. 

217 



APPENDIX B 

BLANK FORMS USED IN COLLECTING DATA 

Education and Experience of the Teachers in the Butte Public 

Schools 

1. Name 

2. Permanent home address 

3. Position in School. 

4. Please indicate in the appropriate spaces the amount of schooling 

you had before entering the service at Butte: 





Where? 
City and State 


Number 
of Full 
Years 


Parts of Years 

(Number of 

Months) 


Summer 

Sessions 

(Number of 

Weeks) 


Year of 
Graduation 


High 
School 












Normal 
School or 
Training 
School 












College 

or 
University 













5. Please indicate in the appropriate spaces below the amount of 
schooling you have had since entering the service at Butte: 





Where? 
City and State 


Number 
of Full 
Years 


Parts of Years 

(Number of 

Months) 


Summer 

Sessions 

(Number of 

Weeks) 


Year of 
Graduation 


Normal 
School or 
Training 
School 












College 
or 

University 













218 



Appendix B 219 

Experience : 

a. Date of entering service in Butte (Month) (Year) 

b. Number of years of service in schools of Butte: 

(1) As teacher years 

(2) As supervisor, or special teacher years 

(3) As principal vears 

(4) Total years 

c. Number of years of service in schools outside of Butte: 

(1) In Montana years 

(2) Elsewhere years 

(3) Total years 

d. Total number of years of experience in teaching, super- 

vision, etc years 



220 



Appendix B 





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5 

Number in Class 
at End of 
Semester 


b 

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4 

Number 

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Total 
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Appendix B 221 



Sheet II b 
Directions and Definitions for Report on Enrollment, Failures, etc. 

1. Where a teacher has two grades, for example, a 1 B and a 
1 A, she will put the record of each grade on a separate line. 

2. Total enrollment for the semester (Item 2) includes (a) the 
original enrollment plus (b) all pupils received during the semester 
on transfer from other rooms of the same building and from other 
public schools of Butte minus (c) all pupils lost during the semester 
by transfer to other rooms of the same building and to other public 
schools of Butte. 

3. Under Item 3 (Number Dropped) are to be included all pupils 
who have been dropped and who have not returned; that is, who have 
not been readmitted to school. 

4. Under Item 6, where there were no failures in a particular 
study, indicate this fact by "o." 

5. Checks which will show whether or not this blank is correctly 
filled out: 

(a) Item 2 (Total Enrollment) = Item 3 (Number Dropped) plus 
Item 4 (Number in Class at End of Semester), 

(b) Item 3 (Number Dropped) =Item 2 (Total Enrollment) minus 
Item 4 (Number in Class at End of Semester). 

(c) Item 4 (Number in Class at End of Semester) = Item 2 (Total 
Enrollment) minus Item 3 (Number Dropped). 

(d) The sum of a and b of Item 5 (Number in Class at End of 
Semester) = Item 4 (Number in Class at End of Semester). 

6. After the blanks are filled out by the several teachers, the 
principal will assemble on a like blank, beginning with the highest 
grade — the 8 A — the report for the school as a whole, and will send 
her report along with those of her several teachers to the Superin- 
tendent's office, by Thursday afternoon, May 21. 



222 



Appendix B 



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Appendix B 223 



BUTTE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 
Directions and Instructions for Blank on Size of Classes 

1. The data called for in this blank on Size of Classes will be 
taken from the Semester Summary. 

2. Each principal will fill out the blank and return the same to the 
Superintendent's office, Monday afternoon, May 25. 

3. The different grades are designated: First Year, Second Year, 
etc. First Year includes 1 B and 1 A ; Second Year, 2 B and 2 A 
pupils, etc. 

4. Where a teacher instructs both a group of 1 B and 1 A pupils, 
these 1 A and 1 B pupils together are to be counted as one class and 
recorded as a class in the First Year, etc. 

5. Where a teacher instructs, for example, a group of 3 B and 
a group of 4 B pupils, or any similar groups of pupils, the two groups 
are to be counted as one class and the class is to be recorded as 
belonging to the year of the highest group. In the illustration, the 
class would be recorded as belonging to the Fourth Year. 

6. The "Total Number of Classes in Each Grade" equals the sum 
of the "Total Number of Classes" in each grade in question. 

7. The "Total Average Belonging of All Classes in Each Grade" 
equals the sum of the "Total Average Belonging" of all the classes 
in the grade in question of the several sizes. 



224 



Appendix B 



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Appendix B 225 



Sheet IV b 
Directions and Definitions for Report on Ages of School Children 
Table 1 : 

1. Total enrollment includes the original enrollment plus all pupils 
received on transfer from other rooms of the same building 
and from other public schools of Butte minus all pupils lost 
by transfer. 

2. When a teacher has two grades, for example, a 1 B and a 
1 A, the record of each grade should be put on a separate line. 

Table 2: 

1. The ages of the children are to be computed as of September 
1, 1913, and are to be taken from the Admission, Discharge, 
and Promotion Card. 

2. A child 6 years and 5 months old September 1, 1913, should 
be recorded as 6 up to 6J/2 ; similarly, a child 6 years and 11 
months old September 1, 1913, should be recorded as 65^^ up 
to 7, etc. 

3. Care should be exercised to record all children of the same 
grade on the same line. 

4. The number of children given in Table 2, as belonging to a 
particular grade and the ages of whom are indicated on a 
particular line, should correspond with the number of children 
given for the same grade under Total Enrollment in Table 1. 



J= 



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FUND ACCOUNT DEnnS EX 1 "l-; N^l-:s OF .,J-;XliKAL CONTROL 


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Index 



INDEX 



Absence report, 56. 

Accounting system, inadequate, 
60; improvement suggested, 64. 

Administrative organization of 
Butte school department, 15-20, 
204-205. 

Administrative principles, funda- 
mental, 20. 

Adults, wider use of school build- 
ing by, 198. 

Advancement, rapid classes, 87, 
196. 

Age ranges within which children 
should complete school grades, 
-77- 

Appreciation, lessons for, 106- 
108; more needed, 116-117. 

Arithmetic, 123-125; tests in, 168- 
171 ; results achieved in, 172- 
182 ; results in Butte compared 
with results in other cities, 176. 

Assembly hall in school buildings, 
38. 

Attendance, enforcement of school, 
52-53, 74-75; records and re- 
ports of, 55-58; responsibility of 
school authorities for, 74-75. 

Attention, value of, 103. 

Authority involves responsibility, 
18, 205. 

Ayres, Leonard P., spelling lists 
derived by, 151. 

Backward children, teachers for, 
28, 195 ; special classes for, 85- 
87, 195, 208; summer schools 
for, 87-88, 208; cost of instruct- 
ing, 88. 

Basements, 34. 

Blackboards in classrooms, Z^. 

Blind, special instruction for the, 
195. 



Board of School Trustees, elec- 
tion of, 12; duties and powers 
of, 12-13, 15-20; proper func- 
tions of, 19; executive officers 
of, 15-16; relation to Superin- 
tendent, 15-20. 

Boston, improvement of arithme- 
tic in, cited, 183. 

Buildings, for high school, 44-45, 
206-207; present type too small, 
43-44; type of, best suited to 
school work, 38-43, 206; wider 
use of, 198. 

Bureau of Education, U. S., 
standards of accounting, 64. 

Butte, compared with other cities 
as to salary schedule, 26; com- 
pared with other cities as to 
costs, 61 ; city only a fraction 
of school district, 60, ^"j ', large 
foreign element in population, 
67-69; population and its char- 
acteristics, 67-71 ; occupations, 
70; environment of children in, 
194. 

Capable, pupils who are especially, 

provision for, 87, 196. 
Capacities of pupils, tested in the 

intermediate period, 142, 146. 
Ceiling too high, ZZ- 
Census, see School Census. 
Children, physical welfare of. 198- 

203; environment of, in Butte, 

194. 
Choice, important that child exer- 
cise, 108. 
Classes, size of^ in elementary 

school, 94-95; size of, in high 

school, 95-97. 
Classification and Progress of 

pupils, 76-100. 



229 



230 



Index 



Classroom instruction in elemen- 
tary schools, 112-118. 

Classrooms, size of, 37; height, 
Z7', desks, 2^; blackboards, z6', 
lighting, 2)6; ventilation, 34; 
visits made to, by Survey staff, 

Commerce, Chamber of, meeting 
attended, 5. 

Composition test, 155-156; results 
of, 157-159; samples from, 158- 
162; conclusions from, 162-163. 

Compulsory Education Law, 50- 

52, 57-59. 

Constitutional mandate establish- 
ing schools, II. 

Cooperation of teachers in devel- 
oping school policies, 187-188. 

Cost of system of education, 61; 
records unsatisfactory, 62. 

Courses of study, criticism of, in 
elementary schools, 122-135, 210; 
in secondary schools, 147-149; 
state course unsuited to city 
schools, 14; in intermediate 
schools, 141-147. 

Courtis, S. A., Standard Tests, 
cited, 168. 

Crippled children, special instruc- 
tion for, 195. 

Criteria for judging quality of in- 
struction, 102-112. 

Criticism of instruction, 187. 

Curriculum, see Courses of Study. 

Deaf, special instruction for the, 

195. 
Defective children, special teachers 
for, 28; special classes for, 85- 

87, 195. 

Delinquent children, 195. 

Demonstrations of teaching meth- 
ods, most effective method of 
supervisors, 186. ^ 

Department heads in high schooAs, 
salaries of, 29. 

Desks, schoolroom, 26, 123. 

Discipline in elementary schools, 
111-112. 

Domestic art, instruction in, in 
ele.mentary schools, 139-140. 



Domestic training, in high schools, 

^47.. 

Drawing, instruction in, 135. 

Drill lesson, criteria for judging, 
102-104; too much emphasized, 
114, 182-184; importance of mo- 
tive in, 103; value of attention 
in, 103; quality of, 114; repeti- 
tion in, 104. 

Drinking fountains in school 
buildings, 34. 

Economics, instruction in, in high 

schools, 98. 
Education, of Butte teachers, 21- 

22; purpose of elementary, 91- 

92, 101-102, 106-107, 119-120, 

193; present-day changes in 

conception of, 119-120. 
Educational program, development 

of, 15-16. 
Employment certificate, y6. 
English, classes for those who do 

not speak, 91, 195, 197. 
English composition, tests of, 154- 

156; results obtained, 157-163. 
Enrollment, in relation to school 

census, y2. 
Entertainments, in connection with 

night schools, 197-198. 
Environment of children in Butte, 

194- . 

Examinations, evil effect of sys- 
tem, in elementary schools, 116- 
117, 183; overemphasize drill 
and review work, 121. 

Executive officers of the Board, 
15-16. 

Failures, by studies in elementary 
schools, 92-93; reducing num- 
ber of, 94; by studies in high 
schools, 98. 

Financial records, keeping of, 62- 
64. 

Fire escapes, poorly arranged, 34. 

First school grade, 122-123. 

Foreign-born element in popula- 
tion of Butte, 67-69. 

Forms used in collecting data, 
218-225. 



Index 



231 



Fumigation, 47. 

Fundamental needs in course of 
study, 121. 

Geography, nature of instruction 
in, 131-132; abstract and book- 
ish character of work in, 131. 

Grammar, attention to technical, 
in Butte, largely wasted effort, 
127. 

Gymnasium, 39, 46. 

Habit formation, lossons for, 102- 
104. 

Handwork, 114; extension of, 137; 
time allowed, 136. 

Handwriting, 133-134. 163-167; by 
E. L. Thorndike, cited, 164. 

Health supervision in schools, 
201-203. 

High-school education of teach- 
ers, 21-22. 

High schools, requirements of 
teachers in, 2^', salaries of 
teachers, 29; educational needs 
to be met by, 45-46; night, 148, 
197; character of instruction, 
147; course of study, too limited 
in scope, 148; needed reorgani- 
zation and expansion of, 148; 
extension of night high school 
work, 148, 197. 

Hillegas, M. B., Scale for the 
Measurement of English Com- 
position, cited, 156. 

History, nature of instruction in, 
129-131. 

Holding power of Butte schools, 
73-76. 

Home School,^ The, by Ada Wil- 
son Trowbridge, cited, 140. 

Household arts, inadequate provi- 
sion for, 139; need for addi- 
tional centers and equipment, 
140-141.^ 

Hygiene, instruction in, 203. 

Individual capacities, adapting 

work to, 143. 
Information, value of, in thinking, 

105; overemphasized, 120. 



Instruction, quality of, 101-118, 
209-210; supervision of, 185- 
192; criticism of, 187. 

Intermediate schools, require- 
ments of teachers in, 146; edu- 
cational desirability of, 141-143, 
211; location and buildings, 44- 
45; cost, 146-147; special pur- 
poses and educational advan- 
tages of, 141-143; teachers for, 
146; courses of study in, 143- 
146; difficulties in inaugurating, 
146-147. 

Janitors, supervision of, recom- 
mended, 47. 

Janitor service in schools, 46-47, 
207. 

Kelly, R J., Teachers' Marks, 

cited, 162. 
Kindergartens, establishment of, 

advocated, 122, 193-194; value 

of instruction in, 194. 
Knowledge, raw material for 

thinking, 105. 

Language, elementary instruction 

in, 125-127. 
Legal basis for schools, 11. 
Lessons, three types of, 102-108. 
Library, public, 129; high school, 

147.. 
Lighting of schoolrooms, 35-7; 

unilateral lighting recommended, 

36^38, 206. 
Lirnitations of state control in 

city school systems, 13-14. 
Literature, 128-129. 

Management and discipline, iii- 
112, 

Manual arts, in elementary school, 
135-139; small time allotment of, 
136; new hnes of work, 137; 
additional equipment needed, 
138; supervision of, 139. 

Measurement of the achievements 
of pupils, 150-184; as a super- 
visory instrument, 188-190. 

Medical inspection in schools, 201. 



232 



Index 



Motive of pupil, importance, 103. 
Municipal government, schools in- 
dependent of, 12-13. 
Music, instruction in, 134-135. 

Nature study and natural science, 
courses in, 132-133. 

Night classes, 46, 196-197; enter- 
tainment feature of, 197 ; exten- 
sion of high-school work to, 
148, 197. 

Non - English - speaking children, 
classes for, 91, 195, 197. 

Normal school training for teach- 
ers, 21-25. 

Nurses, school, 202. 

Observation, as a supervisory in- 
strument, 186. 

Officers of Board, Executive, 15- 
16. 

Over-age, amount of, 77-80; de- 
gree of, 80-83; significance of, 
80, 83-84; cause of, 84-85. 

Over-age children, need of special 
classes for, 85-86. 

Parent-teacher Association, meet- 
ing attended, 5. 

Parochial and private schools, ne- 
cessity of reports from, 50-51, 
57-58, 73- 

Penmanship, Palmer method of, 
133; tests of, 163-164; results 
achieved in, 164-167. 

Phonic drill, 127. 

Phonograph, use in school, 113, 

Pliysical conditions of children, 
199-201. 

Physical training and play, need 
for more, in Butte, 135, 198-199, 
203. 

Playgrounds, 32, 44, 198-199. 

Population of Butte, 67 ff.; char- 
acter of, 67-70; age distribution 
of, 71. 

Powers of state very large, 13. 

Primary supervisor, 118. 

Principals, salaries of, 28; loyalty 
to Superintendent, 192; further 



professional training recom- 
mended, 24. 

Private schools, 50-51, 57-58, 73- 

Probationary period for young 
teachers, 27-28. 

Professional training of teachers, 
21-25. 

Progress of pupils, 76-100; affect- 
ed by kindergarten attendance, 

194. 
Promotion and non-promotion, 

rate of, 88, 208; reducing, 88-92; 

normal rate of, 92. 
Public library, cooperation with 

schools, 129. 
Pupils, number of, in classes, 94- 

97; classification and progress 

of, 76-100. 
Purpose of education, see Edu- 
cation. 

Quality of teaching done, I12-118. 

Rapid advancement classes, 87. 

Reading and literature, 127-128. 

Reasoning problems. Stone, 170- 
171. 

Recommendations, look to the fu- 
ture, 7; summary of, 204-213. 

Records, of attendance at school, 
55; need for simplification of, 
58; financial, 62-64, 207. 

Reorganization of school system 
needed, 141. 

Repetition, in drill lessons, 104. 

Responsibility goes with author- 
ity, 18. 

Salaries for teachers, schedules 
of, 26-27; proposed schedule of, 
27-30; in special subjects, 28; 
in high school, 29. 

Sand tables, 131-132. 

Seats, non-adjustable, 36, 123. 

School buildings, problem of, 
31 ff.; types of buildings found, 
32-33; new type of building 
needed, 38-42; typical class- 
rooms found, 34-35 ; proper type 
of classroom, 37 ; ceilings too 
high, 33; ornamentation of, 38; 



Index 



233 



need for larger playgrounds 
connected with, 32, 44; larger 
school buildings advisable, 43; 
rooms for special purposes in, 
38; high and intermediate school 
buildings, 44-46; sites for, 31-32; 
lighting very poor, 35-37; uni- 
lateral lighting recommended, 
36-38; classrooms, 34-37; fire 
escapes, 34; basements, 34; non- 
adjustable seats still used, 36; 
sweeping, 46; fumigation, 47; 
ventilation, 34; blackboards, 36; 
toilets and urinals, 34; walls un- 
satisfactory in color, 36; drink- 
ing fountains, inadequate num- 
ber of, 34; gymnasium, 39, 46. 

School census, the present, 48-52, 
58; suggestions for improve- 
ment of, 49-52, 207; informa- 
tion to collect, 49; time to take 
census, 50; card census file, 50; 
keeping census file up to date, 
51 ; educational use of census 
file, 52; relation to enrollment, 
72. 

School Clerk, duties of, 16; prop- 
er relations of, to School Su- 
perintendent, 16. 

School code, 11-12. 

School district, Butte, independent 
of municipality, 11-13; larger 
than city, 60; freedom allowed 
by state, 14; of first class, 12; 
estimated population of, 60, 67. 

School elections, annual, 12, 

School nurses, work of, 202. 

School records needed, 54-59- 

Schools, Butte, advantages and 
disadvantages of state control 
of, 13-14; legal basis of, 11; 
responsibility for attendance, 
74-75 ; health supervision in, 
201-203; summer, 87; night, 

196-197. . . ^ . 

Science, need of provision for m- 

struction in natural, 132-133-. 
Secondary schools, see High 

Schools. 
Sections, size of, in high school, 

95-97. 



Sites for schools too small, 31-32, 
206. 

Small schools increase cost, 63-64. 

Social phases of school work, iio- 
III. 

Special classes for backward chil- 
dren, 85-86. 

Spelling, 133; test words, 152; test 
results, 153-154. 

Standards, for judging quality of 
instruction, 101-112. 

State control of schools, 11;^ ad- 
vantages and disadvantages of 
control of schools by the, 13-14. 

Stone, C. W., Arithmetical Abili- 
ties, cited, 168. 

Study, teaching children to, 108- 
iio. 

Summer school, local, for training 
teachers, 24-25; increased salary 
for attending, 27-30; elementary, 
for pupils, 87. , . 

Superintendent of Schools, duties 
of, 15-20; organization of edu- 
cational department under, 191- 
192; relation to Board of School 
Trustees, 18, 192; relation of 
School Clerk to, 16; proper 
position of, in school organiza- 
tion, 15-20; mistakes of, 18; co- 
ordinating authority of, 16. 

Supervision of instruction, 185- 
192, 212; purpose of, 185, 

Supervisor, primary, 118; relation 
to teachers, 191-192. 

Supplementary readers, need for, 

128. 
Survey, Butte, authorization of, 
217; cost of, 3; invitation to 
make, 3 ; methods of, 5-7 ; plans 
for, 4; purpose of, 3, 5; report 
presented, 7. 
Sweeping, 46. 

Teachers, selection and training 
of, 21-25, 205; meetings with 
Survey staff, 5; salary sched- 
ules, 26-27 ; preparation of, for 
teaching, 21-23; further profes- 
sional teaching of, recommend- 
ed, 24, 205; salaries of, 25-30; 



234 



Index 



work of, observed, 6, loi ; ex- 
perience of, 21-23; part of, in 
health supervision, 202-203. 

Teachers' Marks, by F. J. Kelly, 
cited, 162. 

Teachers' union, meeting attend- 
ed, 5. 

Teaching, quality of, 112-118; 
methods of, demonstrated, in 
supervision, 186. 

Technical work in high school, 
148. 

Tests, standard, value as super- 
visory instruments, 190. 

Textbooks, taught, rather than 
children, 120-121, 189. 

Thinking, lessons involving, 104- 
106; necessity for training, in 
school, 104-105. 

Thorndike, E. L., Handwriting, 
cited, 164. 

Toilets, inadequate, 34. 

Tool subjects, bulk of all instruc- 
tion in Butte, 120. 

Trades and Labor Council, meet- 
ing attended, 5. 



Training of teachers, 21-25, 

Training teachers, recommended, 
28. 

Trowbridge, Ada Wilson, The 
Home School, cited, 140. 

Trustees, see Board of School 
Trustees. 

Tubercular children, need of spe- 
cial provision for, 195. 

Types of lessons, 102-108; new, of 
instruction, 193-198. 

Ungraded classes, need for, 85-86. 

United States Bureau of Educa- 
tion, standards for accounting, 
64. 

Ventilation of school buildings, 34. 
Vocational course for intermedi- 
ate school, 145. 

Wider use of school plant, 198. 
Woman's Club, meeting attended, 

5. 
Writing, T33-134; results in tests 
of, 163-167. 



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